More people are moving from Australia to New Zealand than vice versa for the first time in 24 years, officials said. “If this trend continues, New Zealand will eventually become a less attractive destination”, Gordon said.
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The annual gain in migrants has set records for the past 17 months.
This marks the highest net flow of Australians heading to New Zealand since 1991.
Over the past few decades this rivalry was complicated by the fact that many New Zealanders moved to Australia in search of jobs and other opportunities, taking advantage of the laws that allowed free movement of people between the two countries. “Would the last person to leave New Zealand please turn the lights out?” went a common refrain in the 1980s and 1990s.
At the same time, seasonally adjusted figures showed a net gain of 5,500 migrants in December, down from the record high of 6,200 in November.
“In the December 2015 month, the NZ citizens migrating from Australia [to New Zealand] did outweigh those moving to Australia for the first time since December 1990”.
And of the entire migrant arrivals in the December year, 25,300 were from Australia.
Last week, Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler said New Zealand’s economy is expected to pick up this year due to persistently strong inbound migration and high levels of tourism, along with an elevated level of construction work and improving business and consumer confidence, though he left the option of further interest rate cuts on the table.
NZ’s economic and political stability and the end of Australia’s mining boom, have been named as the reasons for the shift.
“Indicators like unemployment and jobs growth improved in New Zealand and declined in Australia”.
Arrivals have been dominated by returning New Zealanders, Britons on working holidays and high numbers of students from India and China.
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Global visitor arrivals for the year ending December 2015 have rounded out 12 months of record growth for the tourism industry – pushing total arrivals to 3.13 million.
