Quarterly Migration Update at a glance

Published: 13 November 2007

Description

This report examines trends in permanent and long-term (PLT) migration using data collected by Statistics New Zealand from arrival and departure cards. These data cover migrants intending to stay or leave for a year or more. This analysis is supported by administrative data on immigration approvals from the Department of Labour.

Link to full report

Quarterly Migration Update HTML | PDF [79 KB, 6 pages]

Summary

There was a net migration inflow of 8,300 in the year to September 2007, down from 13,200 a year earlier.

Annual net migration gains have fallen over the last ten months from a recent peak of 14,800 in November 2006.

The recent decrease in net migration has been driven by growing departures of New Zealand citizens, as well as fewer New Zealand citizens returning from overseas.

This has been partially offset by an increase in arrivals of non-New Zealander over the same period.

Figure 1: PLT total arrivals, departures, and net migration, 1987-2007

Source: External Migration, Statistics New Zealand

Data table for Figure 1.

Departures of New Zealand citizens to Australia have risen in the last year, and are up nearly 70% over the last four years. 

We expect that net migration will continue to decline in the short-term as underlying factors driving departures are unlikely to change.

A special topic on the trends and drivers of New Zealanders migrating to Australia is included in September ’s Quarterly Migration Update. 

Related information

External Migration data from Statistics New Zealand [external link]

Immigration New Zealand homepage [external link]

Immigration New Zealand research homepage [external link]

Future updates

This is a regular report – the next update is due in February 2008.  Reports from previous periods can be found in archive

Author or contact details

For further information please contact the Labour Market Analysis team