New Zealand immigration figures are continuing to hit record levels.
Data for January 2015 shows that more than 5,500 immigrants arrived in NZ during the month than those who left the country permanently – the highest one-month net-migration gain ever recorded. What’s more, the number of newcomers who arrived to live in New Zealand in the year to January 2015, was more than double the number who arrived in the 12 months leading up to January 2014.
The figures show that approximately 53,800 new migrants moved to the country last year, compared to just 25,700 a year earlier.
The biggest net gain of migrants in the year to January 2015 was from India, the majority of whom came on student visas. The other biggest net gains in migrants were from China, the United Kingdom, and the Philippines.
One of the main reasons for the country’s high net migration levels has been down to the fact fewer Kiwis are leaving NZ to move to Australia – a move which has traditionally been popular for skilled New Zealanders.
However, not only are fewer New Zealanders leaving, NZ’s burgeoning economy has actually lured Kiwis back from Oz, where a weaker economic outlook eats into what has traditionally been seen as a country with a comparatively higher living standard.
The NZ government has also made a concerted push to attract international students to help widen the country’s export of education services, and this has also boosted immigration figures.