Prime Minister John Key says the government is working on building an economic environment to create more jobs in New Zealand as figures again show record numbers of Kiwis crossed the Tasman permanently for Australia in the last year.
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed New Zealand experienced a net loss of migrants to Australia of 39,800 in the year to July.
"This equals the highest ever net loss to Australia, previously recorded in both the April 2012 and June 2012 years,'' Stats NZ noted in its report.
The July 2012 annual figure resulted from 53,900 departures to Australia (a record), offset by 14,000 arrivals from Australia.
The majority of migrants moving in both directions were New Zealand citizens.
Separately, New Zealand experienced a net gain of migrants from most other nations, led by the United Kingdom (5,500), China (5,100), and India (5,100).
New Zealand had an overall net loss of 3,800 migrants in the year to July. There had been an annual net loss of migrants since the October 2011 year, peaking at 4,100 in the February 2012 year, Stats NZ said.
Speaking to media in Parliament Buildings before Question Time on Tuesday, Key said the Australian mining boom had attracted a lot of Kiwi workers across the Tasman.
“Obviously we’d prefer that number was lower. Over time we’re working to build the environment that creates those jobs," Key said.
Numbers to stay high
ASB economist Christina Leung said given the relatively strong Australian labour market, the trend of elevated departures to Australia was was likely to continue over the remainder of 2012.
"[Overall] permanent long-term (PLT) migration ended its brief run of recovery with a net outflow of 660 over July, on a seasonally-adjusted basis. The result was driven by a sharp decline in PLT arrivals, with the 14.5% drop over July reversing out the robust increase seen in the previous month," Leung said.
"StatsNZ attributes the volatility in arrivals in recent months to the earlier timing of school holidays this year, given the mid-year holidays are a popular time for moves to NZ," she said.
'Beyond the monthly volatility, PLT arrivals have largely been improving slightly, with an increase in arrivals from Asia offsetting the lower number of arrivals in the major Western economies such as Europe and the US.
"Meanwhile, PLT departures edged up slightly. Departures to Australia remain very high, with the net loss of 39,800 people to Australia over the year to July equalling the highest annual net loss seen in April 2012 and June 2012," Leung said.
"With recent employment data indicating labour demand in Australia stronger than that in NZ, this trend in departures is likely to continue over the remainder of 2012. Beyond that, the improvement in job opportunities from a pick up in post-earthquake rebuilding activity in Canterbury is likely to entice workers to NZ," she said.
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