Visitor arrivals
Monthly visitor arrivals
Short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand numbered 173,900 in October 2008, a decrease of 6,000 (3 percent) from October 2007 (179,900). This is the lowest October total since 2003 (165,800).
The estimated average number of visitors in New Zealand per day in October 2008 was 108,100, up 1 percent from the average of 106,900 in October 2007. Estimated numbers of visitors in the country are calculated from the date of arrival and intended length of stay of sampled visitor arrivals. The average intended stay of visitors who arrived in October 2008 was 21 days, unchanged from October 2007, and the median (half stay shorter, and half stay longer than this duration) was 9 days.
Annual visitor arrivals
During the October 2008 year, there were 2.463 million visitor arrivals, down 5,500 (less than 1 percent) from the October 2007 year. A holiday was the main travel reason for 1.188 million visitor arrivals to New Zealand in the October 2008 year, down 29,900 (2 percent) from the previous year. Another 739,400 arrived to visit friends and relatives (up 31,800 or 4 percent), and 261,300 arrived for business (down 8,900 or 3 percent).
Note: Provisional international travel statistics, including weekly and four-weekly visitor arrival data, are available on the Statistics NZ website. This data is updated each week with the most recently available information on visitor arrivals from 10 major source countries.
Visitors by source country
In October 2008, there were fewer visitors from China (down 3,000 or 32 percent) when compared with October 2007. This is the fifth consecutive month where arrivals from China have decreased compared with the same month in 2007. Visitors from China dropped by 10,800 (26 percent) in the five months from June to October 2008, compared with the same period of the previous year.
For the month of October, there were also fewer visitors from the United States (down 2,000 or 12 percent), Korea (down 1,200 or 17 percent), and Japan (down 1,200 or 15 percent).
In the year ended October 2008, there were more visitors from Oceania (up 35,100 or 3 percent), the Americas (up 6,200 or 2 percent), and Africa and the Middle East (up 5,700 or 14 percent) compared with the October 2007 year. Fewer visitors arrived from Asia (down 44,400 or 9 percent) and Europe (down 5,200 or 1 percent).
Australia (up 27,900 or 3 percent) provided the largest increase in visitor arrivals in the October 2008 year. There were also increases in visitor arrivals from Canada (up 6,300 or 13 percent) and South Africa (up 4,400 or 21 percent).
Decreases in visitor arrivals were recorded for Korea (down 19,300 or 18 percent), Japan (down 14,000 or 11 percent), the United Kingdom (down 11,000 or 4 percent), Taiwan (down 7,400 or 27 percent), China (down 5,000 or 4 percent), and the United States (down 4,400 or 2 percent) in the October 2008 year.
Note: Detailed visitor data will be available in the October 2008 edition of International Visitor Arrivals to New Zealand, which can be ordered on the International visitor arrivals subscription page on the Statistics NZ website.
New Zealand-resident departures
Monthly resident departures
New Zealand residents departed on 175,900 short-term overseas trips in October 2008, up 7,800 (5 percent) from the 168,100 departures in October 2007. The later timing of the school holidays, finishing on 12 October in 2008 compared with 7 October in 2007, contributed to this increase. Combining the months of September and October 2008, New Zealand resident departures were down 8,700 (2 percent) from the same period the previous year.
In October 2008, there were more trips to Australia (up 4,600 or 5 percent), Fiji (up 1,100 or 14 percent), China (up 800 or 19 percent), and India (up 700 or 31 percent). In contrast, the 500 trips to France in October 2008 were well down on the 3,300 departures to that country in October 2007, which coincided with the Rugby World Cup.
The estimated average number of New Zealand residents who were temporarily overseas during October 2008 was 110,100 per day, up 1 percent from the average of 109,500 in October 2007. Estimates of the number of residents overseas are calculated from the date of departure and intended length of absence of sampled resident departures. The average intended absence of residents who departed in October 2008 was 16 days, and the median was 8 days.
Annual resident departures
There were 1.984 million short-term departures of New Zealand residents in the October 2008 year, up 24,700 (1 percent) from the October 2007 year. There were more resident departures to Asia (up 13,800 or 6 percent), the Americas (up 10,500 or 9 percent), and Africa and the Middle East (up 2,500 or 8 percent). There were fewer departures to Oceania (down 5,900 or less than 1 percent) and Europe (down 5,500 or 3 percent).
By country, there were more trips to Fiji (up 4,900 or 5 percent), the United States (up 4,600 or 5 percent) and Canada (up 4,300 or 25 percent) in the October 2008 year. There were also between 2,000 and 4,000 more departures to each of the Cook Islands, China, India, New Caledonia, Germany, and Viet Nam. Trips to Australia (954,800), the most popular destination, were down 19,400 (2 percent) from the previous year. There were also fewer trips to France (down 5,100 or 26 percent).
A holiday was the main travel reason for 830,300 New Zealand residents who departed in the October 2008 year, up 5,900 (1 percent) from the previous year. Another 633,600 were departing to visit friends and relatives (up 20,600 or 3 percent). Departures for business purposes (285,600) were down 3,200 (1 percent) from the year ended October 2007.
Note: Provisional international travel statistics, including weekly and four-weekly resident departure data, are available on the Statistics NZ website. This data is updated each week with the most recently available information on resident departures to 10 major destination countries.
Permanent and long-term migration
Definition
Permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals include people who arrive in New Zealand intending to stay for a period of 12 months or more (or permanently), plus New Zealand residents returning after an absence of 12 months or more. Included in the former group are people with New Zealand residency, as well as students and holders of work permits. PLT departures include New Zealand residents departing for an intended period of 12 months or more (or permanently), plus overseas visitors departing New Zealand after a stay of 12 months or more.
Monthly PLT migration
PLT arrivals exceeded departures by 1,500 in October 2008, slightly down on the net PLT inflow of 1,600 in October 2007. There were 700 more PLT arrivals and 800 more PLT departures in October 2008 compared with the previous October.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, PLT arrivals matched PLT departures in October 2008. This was also the case in September 2008. The net PLT series averaged 500 between January 2007 and August 2008.
In October 2008, there were net inflows of migrants from the United Kingdom (1,400), India, China, and the Philippines (each 300). There was a net outflow of 2,700 PLT migrants to Australia, up from the outflow of 2,000 in October 2007.
Annual PLT migration
In the year ended October 2008, there were 87,400 PLT arrivals, up 4,700 (6 percent) from the October 2007 year. Over the same period, there were 83,000 PLT departures, up 7,900 (10 percent). As a result, net PLT migration was 4,300 in the October 2008 year, down from 7,500 in the October 2007 year. The latest figure is the lowest for any 12-month period since the October 2001 year (1,700).
The net PLT migration gain of 4,300 in the year ended October 2008 is below the annual average of 11,800 recorded for the December years from 1990–2007. Net PLT migration varied substantially within this 18-year period. The net gain peaked at 30,200 in the April 1996 year and again at 42,500 in the May 2003 year. Net outflows were generally experienced during 1998–2001, with the highest being a net loss of 13,200 people in the February 2001 year.
Annual PLT migration by citizenship
A net inflow of 41,200 non-New Zealand citizens and a net outflow of 36,900 New Zealand citizens were recorded in the year ended October 2008. The majority of the net outflow of New Zealand citizens was to Australia (34,600), followed by the United Arab Emirates (600) and Canada (400).
Compared with the October 2007 year, PLT arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens were up 4,400 and PLT arrivals of New Zealand citizens were up 300. There were 6,200 more PLT departures of New Zealand citizens and 1,600 more PLT departures of non-New Zealand citizens. Changes in non-New Zealand citizen departures are often related to changes in non-New Zealand citizen arrivals a few years earlier. Similarly, changes in New Zealand citizen arrivals are often related to changes in New Zealand citizen departures a few years earlier.
Annual PLT migration by country
In the year ended October 2008, there was a net inflow of 7,700 migrants from the United Kingdom, unchanged from the October 2007 year. The net inflow from India was 5,200, up from 3,300 in the October 2007 year and 2,100 in the October 2006 year. There were also net PLT inflows from the Philippines (3,700), South Africa (2,800), Fiji and China (each 2,700) in the October 2008 year.
The net PLT outflow to Australia was 34,600 in the October 2008 year, up from 26,500 in the October 2007 year and higher than previous peaks in the January 1989 year (33,700) and the December 1979 year (33,400). The latest net outflow resulted from 47,800 PLT departures to Australia, partly offset by 13,200 PLT arrivals from Australia. Almost two-thirds of the PLT arrivals from Australia were New Zealand citizens (8,300).
The net outflow to Australia was spread across both age and occupation groups. Migrants aged 15–29 years accounted for 40 percent (13,800) of the net outflow to Australia in the October 2008 year, while the 0–14-year age group (7,900) and 30–44-year age group (8,000) both contributed 23 percent of the outflow. A further 13 percent (4,400) were aged 45–59 years, and the remaining 1 percent (500) were aged 60 years and over.
Net outflows to Australia were recorded in each broad occupation group, led by trades workers, service and sales workers, and professionals (each 2,300). There was also a net outflow to Australia of 14,100 people without an occupation, of which most were children or students.
Permit type
Statistics NZ is now releasing the permit type of people arriving into New Zealand as part of its International Travel and Migration dataset. Permit type is available from July 2003 for short-term overseas visitor arrivals and PLT migrants. Permit type will not be available for arrivals of short-term New Zealand-resident travellers.
Background information about permit types, and analysis of June year data from 2004 to 2008 is available in an article entitled Arrivals by permit type, available on the International travel and migration articles page of the Statistics NZ website.
A basic breakdown of PLT arrivals by permit type will be included in monthly International Travel and Migration releases. Permit data will also become accessible over the coming months via Statistics NZ’s new Infoshare database (www.stats.govt.nz/infoshare), which allows users to build and download their own tables. Customised tables can also be provided, on a one-off or regular basis, although these may incur a charge. To enquire about customised tables, contact Statistics NZ’s information centre toll-free on 0508 525 525 or email info@stats.govt.nz.
It is important to note that determination of passenger type (as a short-term overseas visitor, short-term New Zealand-resident traveller, or a permanent and long-term migrant) by Statistics NZ is independent of the permit type a person holds. Furthermore, New Zealand and Australian citizens do not require a permit to remain in New Zealand, and are therefore included in a 'not applicable' category within the permit type variable.
In the October 2008 year, 27,900 PLT arrivals were Australian or New Zealand citizens who did not require a permit to remain in New Zealand. Of PLT arrivals who did require a permit, 23,600 arrived on work permits, 15,200 arrived on student permits, 14,700 arrived on residence permits, and 5,500 arrived on visitor's permits. Compared with the October 2007 year, there were more PLT arrivals on student permits (up 3,100) and work permits (up 2,700), but fewer arrivals on residence permits (down 1,300). The majority of residence approvals in recent years have been granted onshore, to people who arrived on other permit types.
Of short-term overseas visitor arrivals in the October 2008 year, 1.041 million were Australian or New Zealand citizens who did not require a permit. Of those who did require a permit, the majority (1.272 million) arrived on visitor's permits. Another 139,400 short-term overseas visitors arrived on other permit types (including work, student and residence).
Recent international travel and migration articles
Statistics NZ has recently released three articles on international travel and migration topics. These can be accessed on the International travel and migration articles page of the Statistics NZ website.
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Non-response for international travel and migration variables examines non-response rates for variables captured from arrival and departure cards.
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Short-term New Zealand traveller departures to Pacific island countries examines departures over the last decade to Fiji, the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Norfolk Island and French Polynesia.
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Arrivals by permit type introduces the newly available permit type data. It includes background notes about permit types, as well as data analysis.
Table changes
The format of the tables accompanying the International Travel and Migration release has changed. The former tables 1, 2 and 3 have been combined into one table (table 1). The former tables 4 and 5 have also been combined into one table (table 2), allowing the inclusion of a seasonally adjusted net PLT migration series.
The former tables 6–10 have become tables 3–7, and the other/not stated country category in these tables has been separated into Africa and the Middle East, and not stated. Table 11 has become table 8, but otherwise has not changed.
Infoshare and INFOS databases
Statistics NZ recently released a free-of-charge online database, Infoshare (www.stats.govt.nz/infoshare), that gives access to a range of time-series data. Infoshare contains a substantial number of international travel and migration data series. These are currently available through two subjects within Infoshare:
- International travel and migration (under Tourism on the Browse page)
- External migration (under Population on the Browse page).
The international travel and migration subject is under development, with more detailed cross-tabulations being progressively added. This will eventually replace the external migration subject, but both will remain available until development of the international travel and migration subject is complete.
Both subjects remain available in the INFOS database (for subscribers only).
For technical information contact:
Ian Richards or Nick Thomson
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: demography@stats.govt.nz
Next release ...
International Travel and Migration: November 2008 will be released on 19 December 2008.