International Travel and Migration: July 2009

Visitor arrivals

Monthly visitor arrivals

Short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand numbered 176,200 in July 2009. While this figure is only up 500 (less than 1 percent) from July 2008 (175,700), it is the highest visitor arrival total ever recorded for a July month. Visitor arrivals have increased in three of the last four months, compared with the same month of the previous year.

Despite the increase in visitor arrivals, the estimated average number of visitors in New Zealand per day was down 6 percent to 105,900 in July 2009, from 112,400 in July 2008. The decrease was due to fewer visitors who arrived in previous months staying into July. The average length of stay of visitor arrivals decreased from 20 days in July 2008 to 19 days in July 2009, while the median length of stay (half stay shorter, and half stay longer than this duration) was unchanged at 8 days.

Monthly visitors by source country

In July 2009, visitor arrivals from Australia were up 15,800 (20 percent) compared with July 2008. A holiday (up 12,900 or 37 percent) and visiting friends and relatives (up 4,600 or 21 percent) were the main travel purposes contributing to this increase. However, there were fewer business travellers (down 1,700 or 12 percent).

By Australian state of residence, much of the increase came from New South Wales (up 10,000 or 33 percent), while there were also more arrivals from Queensland (up 2,800 or 14 percent), Victoria (2,300 or 16 percent), and Western Australia (up 600 or 10 percent).

In contrast, there were significantly fewer visitor arrivals from Japan (down 5,000 or 57 percent), Korea (down 3,000 or 37 percent), and China (down 2,700 or 39 percent) in the July 2009 year. Visitor arrivals from Japan and China have dropped sharply since concerns over the worldwide H1N1 influenza outbreak emerged in late April 2009. Large decreases in visitor arrivals from Korea were being recorded before the H1N1 outbreak.

There were also decreases in visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom (down 1,300 or 10 percent), the United States (down 700 or 5 percent), and South Africa (down 700 or 46 percent) in July 2009.

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 July 2009 year, there were 2.412 million visitor arrivals, down 70,600 (3 percent) from the July 2008 year. A holiday was the main travel reason for 1.156 million visitors to New Zealand in the July 2009 year, down 50,800 (4 percent) from the previous year. Another 760,700 arrived to visit friends and relatives (up 27,200 or 4 percent), and 232,200 arrived for business (down 33,300 or 13 percent).

Annual visitors by source country

There were 1.024 million visitor arrivals from Australia in the July 2009 year, up 54,800 (6 percent) compared with the July 2008 year. However, fewer visitors came from Japan (down 31,300 or 27 percent), the United Kingdom (down 29,600 or 10 percent), Korea (down 29,500 or 33 percent), the United States (down 20,800 or 10 percent), and China (down 18,100 or 15 percent).

The number of visitor arrivals from Japan (83,400) in the July 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 (58,700) was less than half the annual high (130,700) recorded in the April 1997 year.

Note: Detailed visitor data will be available in the July 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 198,400 short-term overseas trips in July 2009, down 3,800 (2 percent) from the 202,200 departures in July 2008. July 2009 is the ninth consecutive month in which departures of New Zealand residents were lower than for the same month of the previous year.

In July 2009, there were fewer trips to Australia (down 2,800 or 3 percent), Fiji (down 1,200 or 8 percent), and China (down 800 or 19 percent). There were more trips to the Cook Islands (up 800 or 13 percent) and the United Kingdom (up 800 or 6 percent).

The estimated average number of New Zealand residents who were temporarily overseas during July 2009 was 133,500 per day, down 4 percent from the average of 139,500 in July 2008. The average intended absence of residents who departed in July 2009 was 18 days, down from 19 days in July 2008. The median was 10 days, the same as in July 2008.

Annual resident departures

Short-term departures of New Zealand residents in the July 2009 year numbered 1.916 million, down 78,000 (4 percent) from the July 2008 year.

Trips to Australia (934,000), the most popular destination, were down 33,200 (3 percent) from the previous year. There were also fewer trips to Fiji (down 8,300 or 8 percent), France (down 6,700 or 33 percent), the United Kingdom (down 5,800 or 6 percent), China (down 4,900 or 8 percent), and New Caledonia (down 4,100 or 35 percent).

A holiday was the main travel reason for 780,400 New Zealand residents who departed in the July 2009 year, down 59,500 (7 percent) from the previous year. Another 653,200 departed to visit friends and relatives (up 24,800 or 4 percent). Departures for business purposes (259,600) were down 28,300 (10 percent) from the year ended July 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. 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 2,700 in July 2009, compared with 700 in July 2008. The increase was mainly due to 1,900 (26 percent) fewer PLT departures, including 1,500 fewer departures to Australia and 200 fewer to the United Kingdom. PLT arrivals were up 100 from July 2008, resulting from 400 more arrivals of New Zealand citizens offset by 300 fewer arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, PLT arrivals exceeded PLT departures by 2,500 in July 2009. This was up from 1,600 in June 2009 but similar to levels experienced in April (2,100) and May (2,600). The May 2009 figure was the highest since July 2003 (2,800).

In July 2009, there were net inflows of migrants from India (900), China (500), Germany, and the United Kingdom (each 300). There was a net outflow of 900 PLT migrants to Australia, down from the outflows of 2,700 in July 2008 and 2,200 in July 2007, and the lowest outflow to Australia for a July month since 2003.

Annual PLT migration

In the year ended July 2009, there were 88,400 PLT arrivals, up 2,300 (3 percent) from the July 2008 year. Over the same period, there were 73,900 PLT departures, down 7,000 (9 percent). As a result, net PLT migration was 14,500 in the July 2009 year, up from 5,200 in the July 2008 year. The latest figure is the highest annual net migration total since the December 2006 year (14,600).

The net PLT migration gain of 14,500 in the year ended July 2009 was higher than the annual average of 11,400 for the December years from 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 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 country

In the year ended July 2009, there were net PLT inflows from the United Kingdom (9,300), India (6,000), China (3,400), the Philippines (3,200), Fiji (2,900), and South Africa (2,100).

The net PLT outflow to Australia was 26,900 in the July 2009 year, compared with a net outflow of 32,300 in the July 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 40,700 PLT departures to Australia, partly offset by 13,800 PLT arrivals from Australia. Almost 9 in every 10 PLT departures to Australia were New Zealand citizens (36,200). Of the PLT arrivals from Australia, two-thirds were New Zealand citizens (9,100), similar to levels observed over the past decade.

Annual PLT migration by citizenship

A net inflow of 39,900 non-New Zealand citizens and a net outflow of 25,400 New Zealand citizens were recorded in the year ended July 2009.

PLT arrivals of New Zealand citizens numbered 25,200 in the July 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 50,700 PLT departures of New Zealand citizens in the July 2009 year, down 7,800 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. Arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens have generally been increasing since 2005, with 63,100 in the July 2009 year (up 200 from the July 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 23,200 PLT departures of non-New Zealand citizens in the July 2009 year, up 800 from the July 2008 year.

Annual PLT migration by permit type

In the July 2009 year, 29,100 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, 23,100 arrived on work permits, 16,300 arrived on student permits, 14,300 arrived on residence permits, and 5,100 arrived on visitor permits. Compared with the July 2008 year, there were more PLT arrivals on student permits (up 1,900), but fewer arrivals on residence permits (down 900). The majority of residence approvals in recent years have been granted onshore, to people who arrived on other permit types.

Arrivals on work permits in the July 2009 year were up 100 from the previous year. However, arrivals on work permits in the combined four-month period from April to July 2009 were 1,000 lower than for the same months in 2008.

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 of the Statistics NZ website. The most recent releases are:

Availability of data on Infoshare and INFOS

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, and INFOS. 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. This will replace the external migration (EMI) group. To allow users time to familiarise themselves with the ITM group, EMI will remain available until 30 September 2009. 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: August 2009 will be released on 21 September 2009.