Migration added just 353 people to New Zealand's population in August, according to provisional figures from Statistics New Zealand.
That compares to a net gain of 7364 in August 2019, before border restrictions were introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the 12 months to the end of August this year there was a net migration gain of just 2382, compared to a net gain of 72,461 in the 12 months to August last year.
The net migration peak was 91,680 in the year to Match 2020.
The number of people arriving in NZ long-term, and the number leaving long-term are both well down compared to previous years. There were 48,033 long-term arrivals in the 12 months to August compared to 140,278 long-term arrivals in the 12 months to August last year.
Long-term departures dropped from 67,817 in the 12 months to August last year to 45,651 in the 12 months to August this year, to give the net gain of 2382.
The decline in long-term arrivals was across all types of citizenships, with 27,493 NZ citizens arriving back in the country long-term in the 12 months to August this year, down from 42,711 in the year to August 2020, a decline of 35.6%.
Long-term arrivals of Australian citizens dropped from 5478 in the year to August 2020 to 3131 in the year to August 2021, down 42.8%.
However the biggest decline was in citizens of all other countries, which dropped from 92,090 in the year to August 2020 to 17,409 in the year to August 2021, down by 81.1%.
Overseas student arrivals dropped from 17,845 in the 12 months to August 2020 to 676 in the year to August 2021 (-96.2%), while arrivals on work visas dropped from 28,673 in the 12 months to August 2020 to 1746 in the 12 months to August this year (-93.9%).
The interactive chart below shows trend in the monthly and annual net migration gains/losses.
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Net long term migration
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