Migration has slowed to a trickle in New Zealand, with just 300 or so people a month migrating here since the borders closed in late March.
Overall net migration from April to August was provisionally estimated at 1700, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday – as a net 5200 New Zealand citizens came into the country and and a net 3500 non-New Zealanders left.
It was a huge fall on the same period last year which had a net gain of 21,500 over the same five months last year – a loss of 2700 of New Zealand citizens and a net gain of 24,300 non-New Zealand citizens.
While on the surface it seemed like annual net migration was a lot higher in the year ended August, it was heavily affected by the border closure.
Statistics NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said travel and border restrictions along with constraints on spaces in managed isolation and quarantine facilities had limited people’s ability to travel.
“Many people who arrived in New Zealand in late 2019 and early-2020 have not yet returned overseas, and are staying longer than usual,” he said.
These include New Zealand citizens, along with people arriving on temporary visas such as visitor visas and ”other” visa types for seasonal horticulture and viticulture workers.
“Typically, there is a peak in New Zealand citizens migrating back around December each year, however last December, this peak was significantly higher and remained higher than usual through to March 2020,” he said.
