China now third largest visitor source

China overtook the United States to become the third largest source of visitors to New Zealand in the September 2012 year, Statistics New Zealand said today.

"Most of our visitors still come from Australia, with over a million Australians visiting in the last year," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. "But the number of visitors from China increased to 186,800, fast approaching the 198,400 arrivals from the United Kingdom, our second largest source of visitors."

In the September 2012 month, 179,100 visitors arrived in New Zealand. This was above the 174,200 arrivals in September 2010, but lower than the 219,900 visitors in September 2011, when numbers were boosted by the Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand residents departed on 208,000 overseas trips in September 2012, compared with 167,400 in September 2011 and 210,000 in September 2010. The September 2011 figure was lower due to people staying home for the Rugby World Cup, and a change in the timing of school holidays.

In the September 2012 year, New Zealand residents departed on 2.171 million overseas trips, up 5 percent from the September 2011 year. The biggest increases were in trips to Australia (up 29,400) and the United States (up 19,800), the latter helped by a favourable currency exchange rate.

Net gain of 100 migrants in September

New Zealand had a seasonally adjusted net gain (more arrivals than departures) of 100 migrants in September 2012. There have been net gains in this series for four of the last seven months. The seasonally adjusted net loss to Australia was 3,200 in September 2012. Net outflows to Australia have remained relatively stable since March 2011, averaging 3,300 per month.  

In the September 2012 year, New Zealand had a net loss of 3,300 migrants. There has been an annual net loss of migrants since the October 2011 year.

The net loss of migrants to Australia in the September 2012 year was 39,500, down slightly on the record of 40,000 in the August 2012 year. The September 2012 annual figure resulted from 53,700 departures to Australia, offset by 14,200 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 (5,500), China (5,200), and India (5,000).

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