The exodus of people from New Zealand to live permanently or long-term in Australia continued in February, with net departures across the ditch hitting a new annual record of 39,112, figures released by Statistics New Zealand show.
A total 53,003 departures to Australia in the year to February 2012 - itself a record high - was offest by 13,891 arrivals of people coming back to New Zealand, Stats NZ said. In both directions most migrants were New Zealand citizens.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's seasonally adjusted net loss of migrants continued in February 2012, when departures exceeded arrivals by 400 people. Net losses have been recorded in 11 of the 12 months since the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, Stats NZ said.
Unadjusted figures showed 1,200 more departures of New Zealand citizens compared with February 2011, including 1,000 more to Australia. There were also 300 more arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens on work permits.
New Zealand had a net loss of 4,100 migrants in the February 2012 year. This was the largest net loss since the August 2001 year (4,400), Stats NZ said.
There were net gains of migrants from most countries other than Australia, led by the United Kingdom (5,300), India (5,000), and China (4,800) in the February 2012 year.
Auckland was the only region with a net gain of international migrants (5,400) in the February 2012 year. The largest net loss was from Canterbury (3,700), which included a net loss of 2,900 from earthquake-hit Christchurch. This compared with a net gain of 900 migrants to Christchurch in the February 2011 year, Stats NZ said.
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