New Zealand’s net migration gain dropped to only 4,800 for the year ending in June following the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Stats NZ, this net migration gain of only 4,800 was the lowest net increase since 2013 for a June year.
Moreover, the net migration gain of only 4,800 residents was only a fraction of the migration gain of 84,845 recorded last year.
In 2019, New Zealand’s net migration gain was also significantly high, having a final count of 52,101.
New Zealand’s monthly migration has been low since April 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak, which enforced border closures and travel restrictions starting from a month before, said Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam.
In addition to restricting international travel, introducing public health safety measures such as self-isolation and mandatory quarantine constraints for new arrivals to the country further hindered New Zealand’s net migration gain last year, he said.
It is estimated that there were 45,300 migrant arrivals and 40,500 migrant departures in the last 12 months.
While New Zealand has historically gained more non-New Zealand citizens than the New Zealand citizens lost, the Covid-19 pandemic has reversed this trend, Mr Islam said.
He said that while the number of New Zealand citizens leaving the country has slowed down due to the pandemic, so has the number of overseas migrants arriving in the country.
He also mentioned that there was a net gain of 15,600 New Zealand citizens and a net loss of 10,800 non-New Zealand citizens from the country during June.
Last week, the New Zealand government announced that border opening trials would be held this year.
Moreover, the vaccination program in the country will also be sped up, as the New Zealand government works towards the possibility of quarantine-free travel for fully vaccinated New Zealand residents from the first quarter of 2022.
