NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION NEWS

New Zealand Travel and Migration Statistics

Tuesday, 25 November 2008

Statistics New Zealand International Travel and Migration figures show the number of visitors and migrants arriving in New Zealand has not been significantly affected by recent economic conditions.

New Zealand's permanent and long-term arrivals matched permanent and long-term departures on a seasonally adjusted basis. Today's figures for the month of October 2008 also showed a net inflow of migrants from the United Kingdom (1,400), India, China and the Philippines (300 each). Over the year ended October 2008, there were 87,400 permanent and long-term arrivals, a 6% increase from October 2007.

Annual visitor arrival numbers have decreased slightly in the past year. During the year to October 2008, there were 2.463 million visitor arrivals, down less than 1% from the October 2007 year. However, the estimated average number of visitors per day in the month of October was up 1% on the 2007 results. Compared with figures from the year to October 2007, this year has seen an increase in the number of visitors from Oceania (3% increase), the Americas (2% increase), Africa and the Middle East (up 14%). Some of the largest numbers of visitors came from Australia (3% increase), Canada (13% increase) and South Africa (21% increase). However, there have been fewer visitors coming from Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, China and the United States.

As part of its International Travel and Migration dataset, Statistics NZ is now also releasing the permit type of people arriving in New Zealand. The latest figures show that compared with the October 2007 year, there were more permanent and long-term arrivals on student visas (up 3,100) and work visas (up 2,700) but fewer arrivals on residence permits (down 1,300). Their figures suggest that the majority of residence approvals in recent years have been granted onshore, to people who arrived on other permit types.

If you are interested in Visas to New Zealand or would like more information on Immigration to New Zealand, contact Migration Expert for information and advice on which visa is best suited to you.