Migration patterns have fluctuated dramatically in recent years: there was a large annual inflow of 22,600 for thew year to January 2010, but the Canterbury earthquakes appear to have been a considerable factor in outflows since then.
Long term emigration is on the rise, with the first annual net outflow since 2001.
The latest migration figures, released by Statistics New Zealand this morning, show a net loss of 600 for the month of October and 100 for the year.
This is the first annualised net loss since September 2001, when there was a loss of 1700.
Migration patterns have fluctuated dramatically in recent years: there was a large annual inflow of 22,600 for thew year to January 2010, but the Canterbury earthquakes appear to have been a considerable factor in outflows since then.
There have been 6000 departures from Christchurch since February, compared with 3700 for the same period the previous year.
The largest destination for emigrants overall is Australia, with a net loss of 35,000 for the year to October. This net figure is comprised of 49,500 people leaving for Australia offset by 14,500 people moving to New Zealand from Australia. In both directions, though, most migrants were New Zealand citizens.
There were net gains of migrants from most other countries over the year to October, with 5,700 from the United Kingdom, 5,100 from India and 4,600 from China.
