Net inflow of migrants into New Zealand almost unchanged in June

New Zealand has recorded a net inflow of 5,670 migrants on a seasonally adjusted basis in June. This is almost the same size of the net inflows witnessed in the past four months. Indeed, this is lower than the rates witnessed last year and in early 2016. However, it is evidently a historically strong level. The three month average came to 66.8K in June in annualized terms. This is just a tad lower than its recent peak of almost 72,000.

Seasonally adjusted permanent and long-term (PLT) migrants were unchanged in June, whereas departures dropped a bit. However, it is almost the same message with recent drivers continuing, noted ANZ in a research report. According to Statistics New Zealand, net inflow of migrants from Australia continued in June. In seasonally adjusted terms, 200 people migrated from Australia. Amongst the PLT arrivals, gains of 125,000 over the past year have been dominated by students, migrants on work visas and New Zealand and Australia citizens.

Even if there are signs that net immigration has peaked, it is still not a time to call on the migration cycle yet, stated ANZ. Given that the New Zealand economy continues to perform better than several of its international peers, it is expected to remain as an attractive place for migrants, according to ANZ.

In June, the seasonally adjusted arrivals of visitors eased 1 percent; however, the underlying trend continues to be strong. Meanwhile, the growth in annual terms was 11 percent. Significantly, the solid annual growth is also a relatively widespread story with reasonable gains in arrivals in the last 12 months from Asia, the UK, Europe and the US.

“We expect this growth to continue as we feel the positive tourism story is just as much a structural one as it is cyclical”, added ANZ.

Given the new airlines, new route development into New Zealand, greater airline capacity, and more competition continuing, it should guarantee that the sector continues to be a significant contributor to the activity growth for some time, stated ANZ.