NZ loses 7300 migrants, largest loss since 2012
More people decided to migrate away from New Zealand than to it in the year to March.
The move came as New Zealand’s borders more fully opened with no isolation requirements, meaning anyone who leaves can come back without having to get a managed isolation spot.
ACT leader David Seymour hit out, saying the figures represented the start of a wider brain drain.
But Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said they would turn around thanks to the migration changes announced this week.
Stats NZ revealed the provisional figure yesterday, the highest net loss of migrants since 2012.
Just over 53,000 people migrated from New Zealand in the year to March 2022, while 46,000 arrived. This led to a net loss of 7300, the highest since 2012 when the loss was 15,700.
The year to March 2021 had also seen a net loss, but it was much smaller – 1700.
These net losses have not erased a record high net of migrants in the year ending March 2020, when a record 184,900 people arrived in New Zealand and just 93,200 left, leading to a net gain of 91,700.
Seymour said Kiwis were ‘‘flying the coup’’ (sic) in a statement.
‘‘Labour’s lock ’em down, lock ’em out, borrow, print and spend approach to Covid-19 has contributed to the lowest net migration level since the tail-end of the GFC,’’ Seymour said. ‘‘Kiwis are finding it difficult to make ends meet and are heading offshore for a better chance of getting ahead in life.’’
National’s immigration spokeswoman Erica Stanford agreed, saying the figures were a vindication of wider National Party arguments.
‘‘We’ve kept migrants apart from their families. We’ve shifted the goalposts on them and now they’re voting with their feet and they’re leaving and it’d be very difficult to attract new ones,’’ Stanford said.