Departures for Australia on rise again

The net inflow of migrants continued at a high rate in January, despite a jump in the number of people leaving for Australia.

The net gain of permanent and long-term migrants (those saying they are leaving for at last a year minus those arriving who have been out of the country for at least a year) was 2539, or 1950 when adjusted for seasonal effects, Statistics New Zealand reported.

For the year ended January, the net migration inflow was 22,600, just over twice the average for the preceding 10 years. That included a net loss of 16,000 people to Australia - 19,400 fewer than in the previous year.

Slightly more than 4000 people left permanently for Australia last month, up from 2800 in December and 2000 in November.

"The trend in departures is now turning, led by an increase in departures to Australia," ASB economist Jane Turner said.

"The Australian economy fared comparatively well during the global recession, managing to avoid recession. Job growth has increased beyond expectations consistently for a number of months."

The New Zealand market remained weak, Turner said. "We expect the rate of permanent departures to steadily pick up over the year."

Goldman Sachs JB Were economist Philip Borkin said net migration had helped to take the hard edge off the recession over the past 18 months and been a critical source of support for economic activity. "But we suspect the impact is less than in previous episodes of solid migration gains."