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Covid-19 appears to have brought New Zealanders home, data from Stats NZ shows.
Approximately 4,000 New Zealand citizens arrived in New Zealand between April and July.
July was the twelfth consecutive month that more New Zealanders returned to the country than they left.
Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said that, by contrast, there was a net loss of non-citizen migrants from New Zealand each month from April to July 2020, making it the first period of losses. net of non-New Zealanders since 2001.
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Between April and July, only 800 New Zealanders left the country.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
At least 4,000 kiwis have returned home between April and July. Full border restrictions were imposed earlier this year.
Stats NZ classifies migrant arrivals as persons residing abroad, including New Zealand citizens living abroad, cumulatively spending at least one year in New Zealand after arriving.
The migrant departures were those persons who, together, spent at least one year outside of New Zealand after departure.
Islam said the current net gain for New Zealand citizens was a combination of people who chose to return from abroad and people who may have been unable or reluctant to leave the coast due to international travel restrictions and the pandemic.
From April to July 2020, total net migration was tentatively estimated at 800, comprised of a net gain of 3,300 New Zealand citizens and a net loss of 2,500 non-New Zealand citizens.
During the same four months of 2019, there was a provisionally estimated net gain of 14,200 migrants.
On average, there were 7,600 arrivals and 19,000 departures in each month from April to July 2020.
Arrivals before the blockade increase annual migration
Despite the low migration in recent months, provisional estimates for the year ending July 2020 show an annual net migration of 76,200.
This consisted of 56,700 non-New Zealanders and 19,500 New Zealanders arriving in the country.
Islam said that 99 percent of the overall net migration gain in the year through June 2020 occurred in the eight months leading up to travel and border restrictions.
“Many people who arrived in New Zealand in late 2019 and early 2020 have not yet returned abroad and are staying longer than usual,” he said.
As people stayed longer, the more likely they were to be counted as migrant arrivals.
That kept annual net migration estimates at high levels, according to the figures.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
Almost all border crossings are for short-term travelers, Stats NZ says.
Low trips in recent months
On average, there were 7,600 arrivals and 19,000 departures in each month from April to July 2020.
These are well below the averages for the same period in 2019, when there were 526,000 arrivals and 555,500 departures each month.
From April to July 2020, two out of three arrivals were New Zealand citizens, and six out of seven departures were non-New Zealanders.
Almost all border crossings are for short-term travelers.
From April to July 2019, approximately one in 60 people who crossed the border was provisionally a migrant, compared to one in 10 in the same period in 2020.
This change is mainly due to the large decrease in short-term travel volumes.
