The number of people in New Zealand on student visas hit a record high last month, with the children of foreign workers being one of the main drivers of that growth.
According to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), 90,123 people were in NZ on student visas at the end of April this year.
That was up 9.0% compared to the end of April last year, and was also the highest number ever recorded in any month in the MBIE data series which goes back to 2015.
Of those, 43,401 (48%), were described as "full fee paying". Their numbers were up 5.7% compared to April last year.
There were also another 34,107 people on student visas who were described as "dependents of a worker."
Their numbers were up 9.2% compared to April last year, and that was also a record high for any month of the year.
Of the 34,107 students who were dependents of workers, 99% were aged up to 19 years of age, so it's likely most of them were children.
However, it is not known how many of them were attending NZ schools.
Children of overseas workers are regarded as domestic students, which means they are only charged the same school fees as children of NZ citizens or those with residence visas. Their numbers have more than trebled over the last 10 years.
The same MBIE data also shows there were 206,367 people in NZ on work visas at the end of April, up 2.4% compared to April last year, and the highest number for the month of April since 2020, and not far below the record high of 221,955 set in March 2020.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.