Record levels of people continue to arrive in New Zealand to work and visit, with the latest statistics for the year to March revealing a record 129,500 migrant arrivals.
Departures in the same period were 57,600 - leading to a record net gain in migration of 71,900 in the year to March 2017. This figure tops the previous record of 71,300 set in February.
Visa types contributing most to the migrant arrivals in the March 2017 year were:
- work visas (43,700 up 5,100)
- New Zealand citizens (31,995 up 1,300)
- student visas (23,900 down 3,800)
- residence visas (16,800 up 2,000)
More than 3.5 million people visited New Zealand in the year to March, an increase of 9 percent from the annual total in March 2016.
"The majority of the visitor arrivals in March 2017 were from Australia (36 percent) followed by China (12 percent) and the United States of America (11 percent)", population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said.
Annual net migration has been steadily increasing since 2012.
"This was mainly due to the rising number of migrant arrivals to New Zealand," Mr Dolan said. "Fewer migrant departures also contributed to the increase in net migration."
Labour leader Andrew Little recently made promises to cut immigration by tens of thousands.
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- Patrick Gower: Andrew Little's big call to cut 50,000 immigrants
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