A report in the New Zealand Herald has revealed that China has overtaken the UK as the number one source country for migrants moving to NZ.
According to the recently released annual Migration Trends and Outlook report, in the 2012/13 migration year, Chinese nationals made up 15 per cent of the 38,961 people who were approved a permanent resident visa, ahead of the UK and India, both on 13 per cent.
Net migration levels also rose having fallen a year earlier. A total of 3,200 more people entered the country in 2012-13 migration year than left the country, reversing a loss of 3,200 recorded in the previous year; the first such loss since 2000-01.
The report also predicted that permanent and long-term net migration will exceed 30,000 from the middle of this year as the country’s economy continues to grow.
The number of temporary workers entering the country also increased, up by 5 per cent to 144,978. There was also a 2 per cent increase in the number of people admitted under essential skills policy – the first rise since the start of the global economic slowdown.
Meanwhile, the number of visitor arrivals for the year remained unchanged at 1.25 million (excluding Australians). The top three source countries for short-term visitors were China, US and UK.