NZ migration hits record in July despite more Kiwis leaving

Annual net migration hit another record, but more Kiwis are leaving than returning.

New Zealand annual net migration rose to a record in July, driven by foreign immigrants, with the biggest groups coming from Australia, the UK and China

Annual net migration reached 72,400 in the year to July, up 3400 on the same period a year earlier, Statistics New Zealand said. Three-quarters of the record 132,100 migrant arrivals were non-New Zealand citizens, with 1100 more New Zealanders leaving the country than returning in the latest year. There has been a net migration gain of 72,400 non-New Zealand citizens in the past year to July.

New Zealand has been experiencing record levels of net migration in recent years, with rising immigration a key election issue as it strains the country's infrastructure and has been blamed for inflating property markets.

Chinese migration continued to be the largest on a net basis, with 9961 of the 72,400 net arrivals from China, while India was the second-largest source at 7444 net. However, Indian net migration was down 34 per cent from a year earlier, with a 32 per cent drop in annual student visas granted to Indian citizens.

Migration from the UK had the biggest increases on a net basis, up 53 per cent to 6750, with net South African migration also up 50 per cent to 4862. The number of net migrants from Australia dropped to 469, from 1750 a year earlier.

China continued to be the biggest source of migrants on residence visas, rising 12.2 per cent to 3413 in the year to the end of July, ahead of the total residence visa gain of 7.2 per cent to 16,661. There was a 15.3 per cent increase in work visas granted in the year, to 45,397, while student visas dropped 9.9 per cent to 24,132 and NZ and Australian citizen arrivals rose 6.3 per cent to 38,740.

Short-term visitor arrivals, which include tourists, people visiting family and friends and people travelling for work, reached 3.7 million in the year ended May 31, up 9 per cent from a year earlier and a new annual record, Stats NZ said. A record 1.9 million people came to New Zealand on holiday in the year, boosted by visitors from Australia, the US and the UK, with a spike from the UK in June during the Lions rugby tour.

New Zealand residents took a record 2.77 million overseas trips in the July 2017 year, up 11 per cent from the July 2016 year, with the biggest increases from people going to Australia, the US and China.