Net population gain from migration down to 13,066 in 12 months to July this year from 115,785 in July 2023 year

Migration continues to add about 1000 people a month to New Zealand's population. While that figure has been relatively stable for the last four months, there has been a huge drop in migration-driven population growth over the last two years.

The latest estimates from Statistics NZ show a net population gain of 13,066 from migration in the 12 months to July this year. That's up from 11,917 in the 12 months to June, 12,029 in the 12 months to May, and slightly lower than 13,467 in the 12 months to April.

Those figures are well down from previous years. A net gain of 63,646 in the 12 months to July last year, was just over 5300 people a month, and 115,785 in the 12 months to July 2023 was almost 9650 people a month.

That puts the net migration gain in the 12 months to July this year down by 91% compared to two years ago. (See the interactive graph below for the long-term trends).

Over the last two years there has been a substantial decline in the number of long-term arrivals coming to NZ, and a substantial increase in the number of people leaving long-term.

In the 12 months to July 2023, 214,059 people arrived long-term, but in the 12 months to July this year, just 140,474 arrived long-term. That's down 73,585 (-34.4%) compared to two years ago.

On the other side of the coin, 98,274 people departed long-term in the 12 months to July 2023, but that had increased to 127,407 in the 12 months to July this year. That's an increase of 29,133 (29.6%) compared to two years ago.

Of the 140,474 long-term arrivals in the 12 months to July this year, 25,773 were NZ citizens returning after an extended stay overseas, and 114,700 were citizens of other countries.

Of the 127,404 people who departed long-term in the 12 months to July this year, 73,406 were NZ citizens and 54,001 were citizens of other countries.