Visitor arrivals
Monthly visitor arrivals
Short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand numbered 187,400 in October 2009, up 13,400 or 8 percent from October 2008 (173,900). The October 2009 figure exceeds the previous high for an October month (186,600 in 2006).
The estimated average number of visitors in New Zealand per day was 108,000 in October 2009, similar to October 2008. The average length of stay of visitor arrivals was 21 days in October 2009 and the median length of stay (half stay shorter, and half stay longer than this duration) was nine days. Both were unchanged from October 2008.
Monthly visitors by source country
In October 2009, visitor arrivals from Australia were up 15,900 (22 percent) compared with October 2008. A holiday (up 10,500 or 41 percent) and visiting friends and relatives (up 6,200 or 24 percent) were the main travel purposes contributing to this increase. However, there were fewer travellers coming to attend conventions or conferences (down 800 or 23 percent).
There were increases from all Australian states and territories except Tasmania, with the largest increases coming from New South Wales (up 7,800 or 29 percent), Victoria (up 3,600 or 23 percent), and Queensland (up 3,300 or 19 percent).
For the second consecutive month, there was an increase in visitors from China (up 1,100 or 17 percent). These increases follow decreases between April and August 2009. Despite the latest increase, arrivals were still 1,900 lower than arrivals from China in October 2007. Between June and November 2008, there were large decreases in monthly visitor arrivals from China, following the earthquake there in May and the Beijing Olympic Games in August.
In contrast, there were significantly fewer visitor arrivals from Korea (down 1,900 or 33 percent). Decreases of at least 1,200 visitors from Korea have been recorded each month since September 2008. There were also fewer visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom (down 1,300 or 7 percent), South Africa (down 700 or 40 percent), and India (down 600 or 10 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.
Annual visitor arrivals
During the October 2009 year, there were 2.439 million visitor arrivals, down 24,400 (1 percent) from the October 2008 year. A holiday was the main travel reason for 1.177 million visitors to New Zealand in the October 2009 year, down 11,200 (1 percent) from the previous year. Another 773,600 arrived to visit friends and relatives (up 34,200 or 5 percent), and 228,300 arrived for business (down 32,900 or 13 percent).
Annual visitors by source country
There were 1.061 million visitor arrivals from Australia in the October 2009 year, up 93,600 (10 percent) compared with the October 2008 year. However, fewer visitors came from Korea (down 32,500 or 38 percent), Japan (down 31,900 or 29 percent), the United Kingdom (down 30,500 or 11 percent), the United States (down 15,600 or 7 percent), and China (down 9,700 or 8 percent).
The number of visitor arrivals from Japan (79,000) in the October 2009 year was less than half the annual high (174,800) recorded in the January 2003 year. Similarly, the number of visitor arrivals from Korea (53,100) was less than half the annual high (130,700) recorded in the April 1997 year.
Note: Detailed visitor data will be available in the October 2009 edition of International Visitor Arrivals to New Zealand, which can be ordered on the Order and subscribe page on the Statistics NZ website.
Departures of New Zealand residents
Monthly resident departures
New Zealand residents departed on 176,500 short-term overseas trips in October 2009, up 600 (less than 1 percent) on October 2008. October 2009 is the third consecutive month in which departures of New Zealand residents have been greater than the same month of the previous year, after nine months of decline.
In October 2009, there were more trips to Australia (up 2,400 or 3 percent). Following the tsunami, which occurred at the end of September, there were more trips to Samoa (up 1,200 or 37 percent) in October 2009. New Zealand residents visiting friends or family in Samoa increased by 1,600 (219 percent), compared with October 2008. In contrast, the number of holidaymakers dropped by 400 (21 percent). Of those New Zealand residents visiting Samoa in October 2009, those who were born in Samoa increased by 1,300 (226 percent) when compared with October 2008.
There were fewer trips to the United Kingdom (down 900 or 19 percent), Malaysia (down 600 or 39 percent), and India (down 500 or 15 percent).
The estimated average number of New Zealand residents who were temporarily overseas during October 2009 was 105,700 per day, down 4 percent from the average of 110,100 in October 2008. The average intended absence of residents who departed in October 2009 was 15 days, down from 16 days in October 2008. The median absence was eight days, unchanged from October 2008.
Annual resident departures
Short-term departures of New Zealand residents in the October 2009 year numbered 1.918 million, down 65,900 (3 percent) from the October 2008 year.
Trips to Australia (943,300), the most popular destination, were down 11,500 (1 percent) from the previous year. There were also fewer trips to Fiji (down 9,100 or 9 percent), the United States (down 7,800 or 8 percent), and the United Kingdom (down 6,300 or 7 percent).
A holiday was the main travel reason for 778,300 New Zealand residents who departed in the October 2009 year, down 52,000 (6 percent) from the previous year. Another 664,300 departed to visit friends and relatives (up 30,700 or 5 percent). Departures for business purposes (255,600) were down 30,000 (11 percent) from the year ended October 2008.
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. The former group may include 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 3,000 in October 2009, compared with 1,500 in October 2008. There were 2,000 (35 percent) fewer PLT departures, including 1,800 fewer departures to Australia, and 200 fewer departures to the United Kingdom. Monthly PLT departures have fallen by at least 1,000 compared with the same month of the previous year since February 2009.
PLT arrivals were down 500 from October 2008, resulting from 600 fewer arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens, partly offset by 100 more arrivals of New Zealand citizens. Arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens have been declining since April 2009.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, PLT arrivals exceeded PLT departures by 2,100 in October 2009, up from 1,900 in September 2009, and similar to levels experienced since February 2009.
In October 2009, there were net inflows of migrants from the United Kingdom (1,300), India (400), and China (300). There was a net outflow of 800 PLT migrants to Australia, the lowest outflow to Australia for an October month since 2002, and a decrease from the outflows of 2,700 in October 2008 and 2,000 in October 2007.
Annual PLT migration
In the year ended October 2009, there were 86,700 PLT arrivals, down 700 (1 percent) from the October 2008 year. Over the same period, there were 68,100 PLT departures, down 14,900 (18 percent). The drop in departures was the major contributor to the increase in net migration from 4,300 in the October 2008 year, to 18,600 in the October 2009 year. The latest figure is the highest annual net migration total since the August 2004 year (19,300).
The net PLT migration gain of 18,600 in the year ended October 2009 was higher than the annual average of 11,400 for the December years 1990–2008. Net PLT migration varied substantially within this 19-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 experienced during most of 1998–2001, with the largest being a net loss of 13,200 people in the February 2001 year.
Annual PLT migration by country
In the year ended October 2009, there were net PLT inflows from the United Kingdom (9,200), India (5,900), China (3,600), the Philippines (2,600), Fiji (2,500), and Germany and South Africa (each 1,500).
The net PLT outflow to Australia was 21,200 in the October 2009 year, compared with a net outflow of 34,600 in the October 2008 year. The annual net outflow to Australia has been decreasing since the record highs of 35,400 in the December 2008 and January 2009 years. The latest net outflow resulted from 35,600 PLT departures to Australia, partly offset by 14,400 PLT arrivals from Australia. Almost 9 in every 10 PLT departures to Australia were New Zealand citizens (31,200). Of the PLT arrivals from Australia, two-thirds were New Zealand citizens (9,600), similar to levels observed over the past decade.
Annual PLT migration by citizenship
A net inflow of 37,600 non-New Zealand citizens and a net outflow of 19,000 New Zealand citizens were recorded in the year ended October 2009.
PLT arrivals of New Zealand citizens numbered 25,700 in the October 2009 year, above the average of 23,400 recorded for the 1979–2008 December years, but below peaks in the March 1991 year (29,600) and the October 2003 year (27,800). Arrivals of New Zealand citizens tend to show relatively little variation year-to-year, and the variation that does occur often follows trends in departures of New Zealand citizens a few years earlier.
PLT departures of New Zealand citizens have shown much more annual variation than arrivals of New Zealand citizens. The highest number of departures of New Zealand citizens was 64,300 in the October 1979 year, but by the January 1984 year, this had decreased to a low of 24,400. There were 44,700 PLT departures of New Zealand citizens in the October 2009 year, down 15,600 from the previous year.
PLT arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens were less than 30,000 a year between 1979 and 1992, then doubled to reach a peak of 58,800 in the July 1996 year. Another peak of 72,800 was reached in the February 2003 year. The changes in arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens reflect changes in arrivals of temporary workers (including working holidaymakers) and overseas students staying for 12 months or more, as well as arrivals for residence. Although arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens have generally been increasing since 2005, the 61,000 arrivals in the October 2009 year were down 2,900 from the October 2008 year.
PLT departures of non-New Zealand citizens have generally been increasing since 1984, corresponding with the general increase in arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens. There were 23,500 PLT departures of non-New Zealand citizens in the October 2009 year, up 800 from the October 2008 year.
Annual PLT migration by permit type
In the October 2009 year, 29,600 PLT arrivals were Australian or New Zealand citizens who did not require a permit to remain in New Zealand. Of the 57,100 PLT arrivals who did require a permit, 22,200 arrived on work permits, 15,900 arrived on student permits, 13,800 arrived on residence permits, and 4,700 arrived on visitor permits. Compared with the October 2008 year, there were more PLT arrivals on student permits (up 800), but fewer arrivals on work permits (down 1,500), and on residence permits (down 800). The majority of residence approvals in recent years have been granted onshore, to people who arrived on other permit types.
Recent international travel and migration articles
Statistics NZ has recently released a number of articles on international travel and migration topics. These can be accessed on the International travel and migration articles page on the Statistics NZ website. The most recent releases are:
Occupation data
From October 2009, Statistics New Zealand has adopted the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) for classifying the occupations of permanent and long-term migrants. A discussion of the reasons for, and implications of, the changes is on the Statistics NZ website. As a result, there will be new occupation tables on Infoshare, with details given here on the Infoshare data changes by date webpage.
Availability of data on Infoshare
Statistics NZ has completed a review of international travel and migration outputs available on Infoshare (www.stats.govt.nz/infoshare), a free-of-charge online tool that provides access to a range of time-series data. The review was to ensure information remains relevant and easily accessible. A new international travel and migration group (ITM) is now available and can be found under 'Tourism' on the 'Browse' page of the Infoshare database. The ITM group has replaced the external migration (EMI) group, which means that users will no longer be able to extract EMI data. To help users move from EMI to ITM outputs, a webpage called International travel and migration data on Infoshare has been established to provide a concordance between EMI and ITM outputs, as well as information on the data available in ITM.
For technical information contact:
Nick Thomson or Ian Richards
Christchurch 03 964 8700
Email: demography@stats.govt.nz
Next release ...
International Travel and Migration: November 2009 will be released on 21 December 2009.