More Kiwis taking flight to Australia

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The recovery in the net inflow of migrants faltered last month, as the number of New Zealanders leaving for Australia continued to rise.

There was a net gain of 680 permanent and long-term migrants (those immigrating or returning for at least a year, minus those leaving for at least a year), seasonally adjusted, down from 1030 in September and an average monthly gain of slightly fewer than 1000 over the past year. Before adjustment for seasonal effects, arrivals outnumbered departures by 1700, down from 3000 in September, mainly because of a rise of 1100 in New Zealanders leaving for Australia, Statistics New Zealand said.

For the year ended October, there was a net population gain from migration of 12,600, in line with the long-run average, despite a net loss of 19,200 people to Australia.

ASB economist Jane Turner expects net migration to remain relatively subdued over the next year, saying that the employment growth in Australia continues to outperform the recovery in New Zealand.

"The subdued pace of net migration is contributing to underlying weakness in both housing demand and retail spending growth. However, the recent stabilisation in the pace of monthly net migration is a promising sign, as it reduces some of the downside risk presented to these areas of the economy."