This report provides a brief summary of migration trends for the 2008/09 financial year. The report focuses on three key areas: the New Zealand Residence Programme, permanent skilled migration, and temporary entry.
All data is sourced from the Department of Labour’s immigration data and, unless otherwise stated, is reported as a count of individual people rather than the number of applications. This reporting method is in line with the annual Migration Trends and Outlook report, and its purpose is to show the number of people who enter New Zealand rather than the number of permits they were granted. In practice, counting individual people gives lower numbers for temporary workers and students than when reporting the number of applications decided, asthe average individual makes more than one application in a year.
Purpose
This report provides a brief summary of migration trends for the 2008/09 financial year. The report focuses on three key areas: the New Zealand Residence Programme, permanent skilled migration, and temporary entry.
All data is sourced from the Department of Labour’s immigration data and, unless otherwise stated, is reported as a count of individual people rather than the number of applications. This reporting method is in line with the annual Migration Trends and Outlook report, and its purpose is to show the number of people who enter New Zealand rather than the number of permits they were granted. In practice, counting individual people gives lower numbers for temporary workers and students than when reporting the number of applications decided, as the average individual makes more than one application in a year.
Key Results
• 46,097 people were approved residence in 2008/09. This number is within the planning level of 45,000-50,000 for 2008/09. 62% of approvals were through the Skilled/Business Stream.
• 80% of Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) principal migrants were approved with a skilled job or offer of employment.
• Skilled permanent migration from the UK has been decreasing and is around half the level it was at its peak in 2004/05, although temporary work numbers have remained steady.
• Skilled migration increased from China (12%) and South Africa (40%).
• The number of people approved to work on a temporary basis was 2% higher than in 2007/08, compared with around 17% growth per annum over the previous decade. The biggest increases were seen in working holidaymakers and seasonal workers.
• International student numbers continued an upward trend with a 6% increase in the number of people approved to study in 2008/09.
• International visitor arrival numbers were well down on the previous year (8% fewer arrivals) with large decreases in the March 2009 quarter.