WELLINGTON, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens reached new high, with a record net migration loss of 52,500 in the year ended March 2024.
This is the first time the annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens has exceeded 50,000, according to provisional estimates released by the statistics department Stats NZ on Tuesday.
"That equates to 1,000 more New Zealand citizens departing long-term than arriving long-term each week," Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
Before the current high levels, the record annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 44,400 in February 2012, Islam said.
The net migration loss of New Zealand citizens in the March 2024 was made up of 25,800 migrant arrivals, and 78,200 migrant departures, he said, adding for every migrant arrival of a New Zealand citizen there were three migrant departures.
Based on the latest estimates available, just over half of these migrant departures went to Australia, he said.
Changes in migration are typically due to relative economic and labor market conditions between New Zealand and the rest of the world, and immigration policy in New Zealand and other countries, Islam said.
Despite the record net migration loss of New Zealand citizens, there was an overall net migration gain of 111,100 in the March 2024, which was driven by a net migration gain of mainly citizens of India, the Philippines, China, and Fiji, statistics show.
The net gains follow a progressive relaxation of COVID-19-related border restrictions from early 2022, as well as changes to immigration settings, Islam said. ■
