Emigrating Kiwis at record high in July

  • Breaking
  • 19/08/2011

Statistics New Zealand says July’s 231,000 New Zealand residents leaving the country is a record for any month.

They say the latest figure easily surpasses the previous high of 210,000 in September 2010.

Population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn says timing of school holidays, a favourable exchange rate, and delayed travelling following flight disruptions from Chile’s volcano, could all be factors in the peak number.

While there was a big increase in trips to popular holiday destinations, the outflow of migrants from New Zealand to Australia was the highest ever recorded, at 3200.

Overall, New Zealand suffered its fifth consecutive monthly migration loss in July, with 220 more people leaving the country than arriving.

For the year to the end of July there was a net loss of 31,600 people to Australia, the highest annual outflow since the year to the end of April 2009. 14,800 were arriving from Australia, and most migrants were New Zealand citizens, suggesting many are not making the permanent move back home.

Meanwhile, 1200 visitors said they were here for the Rugby World Cup. This number could be more, but not all visitor cards had a World Cup related question on arrival cards.

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source: newshub archive