WELLINGTONcrashteamracingdownloadforandroid, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's annual net migration gain of 73,300 in the June 2024 year was down from the peak in late-2023, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Tuesday.
"On an annual basis, we still have net migration gains, but these have been falling from the provisional peak of 136,600 in the October 2023 year," Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
Despite the recent fall, the net migration gain in the June 2024 year is the third-largest net gain ever for a June year, Islam said, adding net migration is the difference between migrant arrivals and migrant departures.
Net migration loss of New Zealand citizens remains at record levels, he said, adding that there was a provisional net migration loss of 55,300 New Zealand citizens in the June 2024 year.
Before the current high levels, the record annual net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 44,400 in the February 2012 year, Stats NZ said, adding that in the June 2024 year, for every migrant arrival of a New Zealand citizen, there were just over three migrant departures.
Based on the latest estimates available, just over half of these migrant departures went to Australia, it said.
The net migration gain of non-New Zealand citizens was down from peak, with a provisional net migration gain of 128,500 non-New Zealand citizens in the June 2024 year.
The net gain of non-New Zealand citizens in the June 2024 year was 50,000 lower than the peak of 178,500 in the October 2023 year, Islam said.
"This net gain of non-New Zealand citizens still drove the overall net migration gain in the June 2024 year, and more than offset the record net loss of New Zealand citizens," he said, adding that changes in migration are typically due to relative economic and labor market conditions between New Zealand and the rest of the world, and immigration policies.
The migrant population, which means people changing their country of residence for more than 12 months, has concentrated at younger working ages, Islam said.■