An expert on New Zealand's religious history says mainstream religions are losing members, a trend that's been apparent since the 1970s.
2013 census figures show the number of people belonging to 'no religion' has jumped by 26 per cent since the last census, to 1.6 million.
Associate professor of history at Massey University in Auckland, Dr Peter Lineham, says that broad support for the main Christian churches in the past reflected a social structure which considered itself Christian but this is no longer the case.
The figures, published by Statistics New Zealand, show Christians now make up less than half the population.