Visitor arrivals from Australia and China rise

The number of visitors to New Zealand in August 2012 (178,300) rose 1 percent from August 2011, Statistics New Zealand said today.

"More arrivals from Australia and China in August 2012 pushed visitor numbers even higher than in August 2011, when they were boosted by 4,400 arrivals for the Rugby World Cup," Population Statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. "This August, more people from Australia visited friends and relatives, while more arrived from China for holidays."

In the August 2012 year, 2.636 million visitors arrived in New Zealand, up 5 percent from the August 2011 year. The 2012 yearly figure was boosted by the Rugby World Cup. The 2011 numbers were affected by the Christchurch earthquake in February and disruption to air travel in June because of ash from Chile's Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcano.

New Zealand residents departed on 193,500 overseas trips in August 2012, an increase of 1 percent from the 191,000 trips taken in August 2011.

In the August 2012 year, New Zealand residents departed on 2.130 million overseas trips, up 1 percent from the August 2011 year. The biggest increase was in trips to the United States (up 14,500), helped by a favourable currency exchange rate.

Net loss of 300 migrants in August

New Zealand had a seasonally adjusted net loss (excess of departures over arrivals) of 300 migrants in August 2012. This is similar to the average net loss of 200 migrants over the last 7 months. The seasonally adjusted net loss to Australia was 3,400 in August 2012. Net outflows to Australia have remained relatively stable since March 2011, averaging 3,300.  

In the August 2012 year, New Zealand had a net loss of 4,100 migrants. There has been an annual net loss of migrants since the October 2011 year.

Arriving and departing migrants were mostly between 15 and 34 years old in the August 2012 year. In this age group, New Zealand gained 2,500 more migrants than it lost. There was also a net gain of migrants aged 60 and over (1,300). In contrast, there was a net loss of migrants aged under 15 years and aged 35 to 59 years (each 4,000).

The net loss of migrants to Australia in the August 2012 year was 40,000, the highest ever recorded. The August 2012 annual figure resulted from 53,900 departures to Australia (a record), offset by 13,900 arrivals from Australia. In both directions, most migrants were New Zealand citizens.

There were net gains of migrants from most other countries, led by the United Kingdom (5,400), China (5,200), and India (5,100).

See also:  International Travel and Migration: August 2012  –  Information release