New Zealand sees record net migration loss of citizens

There was a record net migration loss of 44,700 New Zealand citizens in September 2023, with more than half of migrant departures heading to Australia, according to provisional estimates released by the statistics department Stats NZ on Wednesday.

This net migration loss was made up of 26,400 migrant arrivals and 71,200 migrant departures, Stats NZ said.

“Migrant departures of New Zealand citizens are just under record levels,” Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said, adding that just over half of these departures went to Australia, based on the latest estimates available.

The previous record net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 44,400 in February 2012, Islam said.

There was a record overall net migration gain of 118,800 in September 2023, which was driven by a record net migration gain of 163,600 non-New Zealand citizens, mainly from India, the Philippines, China, Fiji and South Africa, Islam said.

This follows a progressive relaxation of COVID-19-related border restrictions from early 2022, as well as changes to immigration settings, he said.

Migrants aged 18 to 44 made up 67 percent of the 210,600 migrant arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens in September 2023, statistics show.

Changes in migration are typically due to a combination of factors. This includes 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.