Stats NZ noted a record 85,600 New Zealand citizens left the country during the year, with China, United Kingdom, and Australia the top destinations. (file image) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Robinson
New Zealand is losing people in record numbers as the tide of immigration recedes.
Stats NZ data showed a net migration gain for the year ended May of 82,800, the lowest annual gain since March last year.
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said the numbers were prone to revisions and had to be treated with caution, but all the same the trend was clear.
"The slowdown in net migration is being driven by both sides. Arrivals remain at historically high levels, but they are down from the peak seen early last year.
"Meanwhile, departures of New Zealanders in particular have been trending higher, and are above pre-Covid levels."
Nearly 143,000 non-New Zealand citizens arrived in the 12 months ended May, with 60,100 departures.
Stats NZ noted a record 85,600 New Zealand citizens left the country during the year, with China, United Kingdom, and Australia the top destinations.
"This likely reflects a combination of delayed travel plans and the relatively robust jobs market in Australia compared to the slowdown in New Zealand," Gordon said.
For the month of May, there was an estimated actual net loss of 2000, the first since June 2022, although when seasonally adjusted that turned into 1400 gain.
Arrivals from India, the Philippines, and China remained the largest source of migrants.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said the slowdown would help the Reserve Bank's concerns strong population growth would boost economic activity and inflation pressures.
"The migration flows will keep boosting the pool of available workers in the short term, while employment growth is drying up, reinforcing that labour market slack will increase."
Annual migrations net gains peaked at a record 136,600 in October last year.
