New Zealand's annual net migration continues to soar but there was little political reaction when the latest Statistics New Zealand figures were released yesterday.
In the lead-up to the election, high migration has been blamed for rising house prices in Auckland and for keeping young New Zealanders out of work.
Annual net migration was a record 72,400 in the July 2017 year. Migrant arrivals were 132,100, an annual record, and migrant departures numbered 59,700 in the year ended July.
Compared with the year ended July 2016, net migration rose 3400.
Population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said most migrants were arriving in New Zealand on short-term work and student visas.
However, it was how long they stayed in New Zealand, not their visa type, which affected whether they were counted as long-term migrants or short-term visitors.
``All people in New Zealand place demands on the country's services and infrastructure. But it is these migrants who are here for a year or more that are included in estimates and projections of resident population. And these are the basis for long-term planning.''
In the year ended July, the high net migration was mostly driven by non-New Zealand citizens who provided New Zealand with a net gain of 73,500 new migrants, compared with 72,100 last year, he said.
Migration of New Zealand citizens meant a loss of 1100 migrants, compared with a net loss of 3100 in the July 2016 year.
Of the 33,500 departures of New Zealand citizens in the July year, 62% were to Australia.
The biggest increases in net migration for the July year were from the United Kingdom (up 2400) and South Africa (up 1600).
The largest decrease in net migration was from India (down 3900 to 7400) due to a decrease in student migrant arrivals, Mr Dolan said.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said net migration was down slightly on a monthly basis but recent trends remained intact.
Permanent and long-term (PLT) departures remained low while PLT arrivals continued.
The annual number of student inflows remained steady at 24,000 a year and 18% of all PLT arrivals. That was down from a peak of 28,000 and 23% of PLT arrivals in February 2016.
Meanwhile, the proportion of arrivals on work visas remained steady at a record high of 34%, he said.
``New Zealand's strong economy and relatively strong labour market continues to attract migrants from all around the world.
``Over the near term, we expect net migration to remain elevated.''
An improving labour market in Australia, if sustained, could potentially slow net migration, as it reduced arrivals from Australia and possibly increased departures from New Zealand, Mr Tuffley said.
``Future migration policies remain up in the air as we head into a close election''.
Short-term visitor arrivals fell 5.3% on a seasonally-adjusted basis, unwinding the previous month's 4.9% lift from the British and Irish Lions rugby tour, Mr Tuffley said.
Statistics NZ noted annual short-term visitor arrivals hit a record high of 3.7 million.
The strong growth in recent years had placed strain on tourism capacity, in particular accommodation. Tourism was in a seasonally low time of the year.
The true test of New Zealand's ability to show further growth in tourism would take place in summer; monthly short-term visitors peaked at just below 500,000 in December last year, he said.
