Migrants, visitors and holiday makers to NZ all hit record highs

Monday, 21 August 2017

New Zealand's international lure continues, with both net migration and overseas visitors hitting fresh record highs.

Official figures show net migration for the 12 months to the end of July hit 72,400, while international visitors hit 3.7 million.

Both figures were gains on the year ended June, which were also record highs.

In the month of July New Zealand had 246,900 overseas visitors, a record for that month, up 4 per cent on July 2016.

**READ MORE: 

* Annual immigration hits fresh record, visitor numbers lower than expected**

* How record migration affects traffic, schools, housing and the economy in New Zealand

* A day in the life of a tourist here

Most of the people coming to New Zealand are doing so for pleasure rather than work.

According to Statistics New Zealand, 1.9 million people came to New Zealand on holiday in the year to July 31, almost double the number from back in 2002, when holiday makers first hit 1 million a year.

Meanwhile net migration hit continues to be driven by record arrivals, with 99,700 non-NZ citizens arriving in July, while 25,600 non-citizens left in 12 months.

New Zealand actually saw a net loss of citizens in the year, with 1100 more leaving the country on a long term basis in 12 months.

However according to Westpac, the net loss of Kiwis is now at the lowest level in 33 years. 

Although more than half of the Kiwis heading offshore ahead going to Australia, the number moving across the Tasman is still well down on where it was a decade ago.

Net migration has been running at record levels for around three years, and is expected to stay strong for months to come, boosting the population and placing pressure on infrastructure.

'We expect net migration will remain at current levels over the remainder of 2017 (absent a major shift in government policy),' economists at Kiwibank wrote on Monday, ahead of the official data release.

'Conditions supporting elevated net migration, such as a relatively strong labour market, remain in play.'