Niue

Niue
Status	Self-governing in Free Association with C
Sovereignty	New Zealand
Capital	Alofi
Land Area
Location	Australasia, Polynesia
Groupings	Small Islands
Population
GNI
ISO3166-1 Codes	NU, NIU, 5701
Internet Domain	.nu2
Currency	Dollar (NZD)3
Telephone	+6834

1. Overview
2. Niue's Health
3. Niue's Responsibility Towards The Environment
4. Religion and Beliefs
5. Links

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1. Overview

#new_zealand

“Niue's remoteness, as well as cultural and linguistic differences between its Polynesian inhabitants and those of the rest of the Cook Islands, have caused it to be separately administered. The population of the island continues to drop (from a peak of 5,200 in 1966 to an estimated 1,311 in 2011) with substantial emigration to New Zealand 2,400 km to the southwest.”

CIA's The World Factbook (2013)₅

As a territory of New Zealand I do not have many specific statistics for this territory in its own right.

2. Niue's Health

#alcohol #health #obesity #vaccines

Compared to Australasia (2025)6
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank6
1	New Caledonia	57.9
2	Australia	62.9
3	New Zealand	67.5
	...
11	Tuvalu	129.6
12	Papua New Guinea	130.7
13	Micronesia	134.5
14	Kiribati	138.7
15	Samoa	138.9
16	Nauru	147.4
17	Niue	153.4
18	Cook Islands	153.8
19	Marshall Islands	157.0
	Australasia Avg	112.00
q=19.

Health (2025)6
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank6
1	Monaco	14.3
2	Liechtenstein	30.1
3	Isle of Man	32.1
	...
206	Equatorial Guinea	144.8
207	Nauru	147.4
208	Somalia	149.4
209	Angola	152.2
210	Niue	153.4
211	S. Sudan	153.6
212	Cook Islands	153.8
213	Marshall Islands	157.0
	World Avg	96.49
q=213.

The countries with the best overall approach to public health, in terms of both public policy and individual lifestyle choices, are Monaco, Liechtenstein and The Isle of Man₇. These countries are worth emulating. And, although often through no fault of the average citizen, the worst countries are The Marshall Islands, The Cook Islands and S. Sudan₇.

27 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on its average life expectancy, its alcohol consumption rate, its fertility rate, its smoking rate, its suicide rate, its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance, the prevalence of overweight adults, obesity rate, its adolescent birth rate and its immunizations take-up. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Europe and The Mediterranean₇, whereas the worst are Micronesia, Melanesia and Australasia₇.

For more, see:

• "Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Health Datasets:

Niue has some poor policies and cultural issues which cause some public health problems. Niue comes in the best 20 when it comes to its immunizations take-up₈ (the best in Australasia). However Niue performs less well in most areas. It does worse than average in terms of its alcohol consumption rate₉ (one of the highest in Australasia). And finally, it sits amongst the bottom 20 in the prevalence of overweight adults₁₀. The prevalence of overweight adults has increased by 14% during the last 40 years.

Alcohol Consumption Lower is better9
Pos.		2016 Per Capita9
1	Bangladesh	0.0
2	Kuwait	0.0
3	Libya	0.0
	...
103=	Sao Tome & Principe	6.8
104	Dominican Rep.	6.9
105=	Antigua & Barbuda	7.0
105=	Niue	7.0
107	China	7.2
108=	Paraguay	7.2
109	Mongolia	7.4
110=	Albania	7.5
	Australasia Avg	4.3
	World Avg	6.2
q=189.

Overweight Adults Lower is better10
Pos.		1976 %10
1	Bangladesh	4.7
2	Vietnam	5.1
3	Nepal	5.4
	...
181	Kiribati	50.0
182=	Micronesia	51.4
182=	Tuvalu	51.4
184	Niue	51.7
185	Kuwait	52.2
186	Tonga	53.2
187	Samoa	54.0
188	Cook Islands	63.0
	Australasia Avg	48.8
	World Avg	27.1
q=191.

Adult Obesity Lower is better11
Pos.		2022 %11
1	Vietnam	2.1%
2	Timor-Leste (E. Timor)	2.2%
3	Ethiopia	2.4%
	...
191	French Polynesia	48.4%
192	Samoa	61.2%
193	Tuvalu	63.9%
194	Niue	66.5%
195	Cook Islands	68.4%
196	Tokelau	69.2%
197	Nauru	70.2%
198	Tonga	70.5%
	Australasia Avg	49.3%
	World Avg	24.7%
q=199.

Children's Health Datasets:

Infant Immunizations 2011-2015 Higher is better8
Pos.		2015 Avg %8
1=	Hungary	99.0
1=	China	99.0
3	Uzbekistan	98.9
4	Niue	98.8
5	Mongolia	98.7
6	Czechia	98.7
7	Seychelles	98.6
8	S. Korea	98.6
9	Sri Lanka	98.4
10	St Lucia	98.2
11	Bahrain	98.2
12	Iran	98.1
	Australasia Avg	86.4
	World Avg	88.3
q=194.

3. Niue's Responsibility Towards The Environment

#biodiversity #climate_change #deforestation #environmentalism #internationalism #over-exploitation #the_environment

Compared to Australasia (2025)12
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank12
1	New Zealand	75.8
2	Australia	76.6
3	Fiji	89.1
	...
8	Kiribati	111.4
9	Micronesia	114.6
10	Cook Islands	119.6
11	Solomon Islands	121.6
12	Marshall Islands	123.1
13	Palau	124.5
14	Tuvalu	127.4
15	Niue	129.5
16	Nauru	134.4
	Australasia Avg	93.28
q=16.

Responsibility Towards The Environment (2025)12
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank12
1	Sri Lanka	34.9
2	Uruguay	43.2
3	Switzerland	45.0
	...
186	Grenada	125.0
187	Tuvalu	127.4
188	Tajikistan	128.6
189	Niue	129.5
190	Brunei	130.2
191	Somalia	131.0
192	N. Korea	132.3
193	Turkmenistan	134.1
	World Avg	84.93
q=199.

We have known for a long term that we must protect the environment from habitation destruction, over-exploitation, pollution, and the emissions that cause climate change. In 1998, Greenpeace wrote that "Environment can no longer be meaningfully separated from health, quality of life, democracy, education, economy or trade"₁₃. What countries have been doing the right thing, via legislation and national culture? All countries' current and historical approach towards the environment is gauged via 21 datasets, including multiple decades of data on its forested percent change 2000-2020, its environmental performance, energy to GDP efficiency, its sign-up rate to major international accords on protecting the environment, the rate of rational beliefs on the environment in the population, reducing annual meat consumption per person and its score on the Green Future Index.

The countries that do the best (Sri Lanka, Uruguay and Switzerland) tend to have avoided the excesses of early industrial countries, and have not yet repeated the same mistakes of environmental destruction - at least, not on the same scale. The regions with the best average results per country are Central America, South America and Scandinavia. The worst are Eritrea, The Vatican City and Timor-Leste (E. Timor), and the worst regions Micronesia, Australasia and Melanesia.

For more, see:

• " Countries With the Best Environmental Records" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Regarding its responsibility towards the environment, Niue ranks 11th-worst in the world (one of the highest in Australasia). This rank is calculated from 21 data sets. Niue does better than average in terms of its forested percent change 2000-2020₁₄. And finally, it does worse than average when it comes to its sign-up rate to major international accords on protecting the environment.

Forest Area Change 2000-2020 Higher is better14
Pos.		Total14
1	Guernsey	82.6%
2	Bahrain	75.2%
3	Iceland	64.7%
	...
83	Slovenia	0.4%
84	Wallis & Futuna	0.3%
85	Japan	0.2%
86	Niue	0.2%
87	Cook Islands	0.1%
88	New Caledonia	0.0%
89=	Qatar	0.0%
89=	Marshall Islands	0.0%
	Australasia Avg	0.1%
	World Avg	-0.1%
q=234.

International Accords on the Environment Higher is better
Pos.		Total Avg Rate
1	Sweden	83%
2	Canada	82%
3	Norway	81%
	...
174	Tonga	43%
175	Kiribati	42%
176	Cook Islands	42%
177	Niue	42%
178	Solomon Islands	42%
179	Marshall Islands	42%
180	Serbia	41%
181	Grenada	41%
	Australasia Avg	48.2%
	World Avg	57.5%
q=197.

Niue is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and was one of the early adopters of the Kyoto Protocol in 1999.

4. Religion and Beliefs

#buddhism #christianity #hinduism #islam #judaism

Data from the Pew Forum, a professional polling outfit, states that in 2010 the religious makeup of this country was as follows in the table below₁₅:

Christian	96.4%
Muslim	0.1%
Hindu	0.1%
Buddhist	0.1%
Folk Religion	0.1%
Jewish	0.1%
Unaffiliated	3.3%

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states: Ekalesia Niue (Niuean Church - a Protestant church closely related to the London Missionary Society) 61.1%, Latter-Day Saints 8.8%, Roman Catholic 7.2%, Jehovah's Witnesses 2.4%, Seventh-Day Adventist 1.4%, other 8.4%, unspecified 8.7%, none 1.9% (2001 census)₁₆.

Links:

• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems

There isn't much information in the database for Niue, most likely because it is either a part of another country (i.e., a territory or possession) and therefore most international statistics are counted for the country as a whole, or, this is such an exotic place that little data exists about it.