Niue

https://www.humantruth.info/niue.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2013

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

#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	66.3
3	New Zealand	69.9
	...
11	Papua New Guinea	125.9
12	Tuvalu	126.7
13	Kiribati	129.5
14	Micronesia	134.5
15	Samoa	135.7
16	Nauru	145.1
17	Niue	153.4
18	Marshall Islands	163.0
19	Cook Islands	164.3
	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	Nauru	145.1
207	Ivory Coast	145.8
208	Nigeria	146.0
209	Angola	149.2
210	S. Sudan	149.6
211	Niue	153.4
212	Marshall Islands	163.0
213	Cook Islands	164.3
	World Avg	97.60
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 Cook Islands, The Marshall Islands and Niue₇.

25 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 Balkans₇, whereas the worst are Micronesia, Africa and Australasia₇.

For more, see:

"Countries With the Healthiest Cultures and Health Policies" by Vexen Crabtree (2020).

Health:

Niue has some poor policies and cultural issues which cause some public health problems. Niue comes in the best 20 in its immunizations take-up₈ (the best in Australasia). But that's it. Niue has problems. It does worse than average when it comes to its alcohol consumption rate₉ (one of the worst in Australasia). And finally, it sits amongst the bottom 20 in the prevalence of overweight adults₁₀. The number of overweight adults has increased by 14% between 1976 and 2016.

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:

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).

Amongst the worst in Australasia Niue ranks 11th-worst in the world in terms of its responsibility towards the environment. 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 in 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.