Migration to Australia stays at record high

The trans-Tasman exodus is continuing, with another net loss of 800 migrants in April - mostly to Australia.

The 800 net migration figure follows a net loss of 300 in March and a 200 net gain in February.

That is the largest monthly decrease since 2001.

But the annual figures are the most sobering.

For the year to April there was a net loss of 39,800 to Australia, the highest annual trans-Tasman migration flow ever.

Note that this is a net figure - the annual outflow to Australia was 53,500, offset by 13,700 arrivals, government statistician Geoff Bascand says.

In both directions, most migrants are New Zealand citizens.

Overall, the change to a net migration loss is driven by people leaving.

The number of people migrating to New Zealand, on an annual basis, has been running consistent at slightly more than 83,000 for the past three years.

The rise is in people leaving - from 63,666 in the year to April 2010 to 87,813 for the most recent 12 months.

Of this 24,147 increase in emigrants, 22,811 have gone to Australia.

The latest figures for short-term visitors also decreased in April, although some of this appears to be related to changes in the date of school holidays across the Tasman.

The inflow of tourists dropped 1% in April, but this is because of Australian school holidays starting earlier, says Statistics New Zealand population indicators project manager Susan Hollows.

"Combining the numbers of visitors in March and April, there were 22,300 more visitors in 2012 than in 2011," she says.

Visitors from China doubled in April.

For the year to April, the number of tourists was up 4%, rising to 2.616 million.

Over the same period, New Zealand residents took 2.127m overseas trips, a rise of 3%.

Rob Hosking
Tue, 22 May 2012

Categories

Analysis

Featured

Migration to Australia stays at record high