Overseas worker and student numbers down 74,000 since February 2020

The number of people in New Zealand on work or student visas continues declining, but the rate of decline is relatively slow

Property

The number of people in New Zealand on work or student visas continues declining, but the rate of decline is relatively slow

16th Sep 21, 12:13pm by Greg Ninness

The number of people in New Zealand on work or student visas is continuing to decline as border restrictions remain in place, but the rate of decline is relatively slow.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, there were 49,191 people in NZ on student visas at the end of August.

That was down 1407 since the end of July, and down 32,787 (-40%) since the end of February last year.

The August numbers were the lowest they have been in any month of the year since January 2014, which was the last time they dipped below 50,000.

The peak for overseas students was in October 2019 when they hit 86,064.

Overseas worker numbers are also in slow but steady decline, with 180,069 people on work visas at the end of August.

That was down by 894 compared to the end of July, and down 41,187 (-18.6%) compared to the end of February 2020.

The number of people in the country on work visas is at its lowest level since December 2018.

The latest figures also show very few people are currently entering NZ on work or student visas due to border restrictions, while most of those who were already here when the restrictions were put in place, are staying put.

That is leading to a slow decline in numbers rather than a dramatic decrease.

In August just 471 people entered NZ on work visas and 165 on student visas.

That compares with 20,142 people who entered on work visas in August 2019 and another 5697 who entered on student visas in the same month.

Altogether there were 229,260 people in NZ on work or student visas at the end of August, down by 73,974 (-24%) compared to February last year before comprehensive border restrictions were introduced.

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10 Comments

by Lapun | 16th Sep 21, 12:52pm 1631753570

There are 2.7m people working in NZ. Roughly 8% are these non-permanent foreigners. Then add an accumulating 1.5% gaining permanent residency every year.

They keep NZ interesting but a more boring NZ may be preferable. Those low status jobs Kiwis are unwilling to take (care workers for example) would have their wages raised. What is wrong with a shift working care giver earning more than a council pen-pusher?

Immigration and population planning ought to be discussed by serious politicans.

by Timmyboy | 16th Sep 21, 1:34pm 1631756078

Most New Zealanders are ignorant of human overshoot in a finite biosphere and this includes our politicians.

When was the last time there were 5+ million rapacious primates living off finite stocks of imported oil living in this land?

It is an uncontrolled experiment that will end badly.

by Advisor | 16th Sep 21, 2:57pm 1631761027

Plenty of Kiwis out there still buy into the promise of mass migration transforming our society into some sort of a 'melting pot'.

A drive into the heart of Mangere and Papatoetoe should be enough to burst that utopic pipe-dream sold to us by Labour-National.

by Lapun | 16th Sep 21, 4:22pm 1631766129

Plenty of Kiwis want a docile lower working class to provide cheap fast food and care givers for our geriatrics. 'Fair go' NZ with its protestant ethic that all humans beings are equal in the eye of God is on its way out. An aristocratic elite needs its serfs.

by Jarlaith | 16th Sep 21, 9:43pm 1631785421

If Protestants believe in all human beings are equal in the eye of God, why such disparities between Maori and Pakeha?

by Lapun | 17th Sep 21, 11:18am 1631834314

It would make an interesting article but waste of time writng now because we have so few practising protestants. But it was a protestant religious ethic that made the modern world for good and bad. Look at the treaty of Waitangi as an example - prior to that the general attitude was 'we conquered so we own' as per the American constitution and their indigenous population. That was roughly the historic point when anti-slavery became a powerful movement - prior to that slavery / serfdom was commonplace in all civilisations.

by Lapun | 16th Sep 21, 4:15pm 1631765704

There are many more primates living in Manila, New York, Jakarta, Shanghai, Mexico City. Java is less than half the size of NZ with a population of 145 million. So we could take more but why? I could increase the population in my house but choose not to do so. Something to do with wellbeing. NZ should be setting an example with both climate change and with a planned population reduction. They are closely related.

by Malarkey | 16th Sep 21, 5:04pm 1631768644

My friend Harald is a Swiss-born American. He is a designer in various fields of engineering. His French-Canadian wife has U.S. citizenship. She is a professor of political studies and in 2019 accepted a position at a university in New Zealand. Harald was okay with this as he loves to travel, and because an increasingly large part of his work is done online.

"Have fun talking about nothing but houses from now on" I said when he told me the news. He laughed.

Today I spoke with Harald via FaceTime.

"Dear god, we have to get out of this place! If I hear one more conversation about dream homes I will go mad!"

Apparently all conversation among even the best educated of Kiwi academics eventually devolves into blather about nothing but huzzuz unn thuh 'Murrucuh's Cupp. Who'd have guessed it?

by Jarlaith | 16th Sep 21, 9:46pm 1631785564

Talk about generalising.

by Malarkey | 16th Sep 21, 10:36pm 1631788603

The truth should hurt, but Kiwis think blathering about almost nothing other than huzzuz unn thuh 'Murrucuh's Cupp uzz ussumm!

Still, I guess there's always cars and rugby too. Excuse me... that should be "cuzz unn rugbuh tuh".