Visitor Arrivals Up 16 Per Cent

External Migration: March 2001

Visitor Arrivals Up 16 Per Cent

In March 2001, there were 176,880 overseas visitors, an increase of 23,960 or 16 per cent on March 2000, according to latest figures from Statistics New Zealand. Visitors from Australia (up 8,520) contributed one-third of the increase, followed by Asia (up 5,800), the Americas (up 3,080) and Europe (up 2,400).

Seasonally adjusted visitor arrivals increased by 7 per cent between February and March 2001. This compares with a decrease of 7 per cent between January and February 2001.

Visitor arrivals for the March 2001 year totalled 1.848 million, up 196,000 or 12 per cent on the previous year. Five countries contributed two-thirds of the increase: Australia (up 54,960 or 10 per cent), the United Kingdom (up 35,090 or 20 per cent), Korea (up 16,970 or 32 per cent), China (up 12,360 or 46 per cent), and Japan (up 11,870 or 8 per cent).

Short-term departures by New Zealand residents in March 2001 totalled 90,680, up 920 or 1 per cent on March 2000. For the year ended March 2001, short-term departures totalled 1.295 million, up 102,000 or 9 per cent on the previous March year.

In March 2001, permanent and long-term departures exceeded arrivals by 1,900, compared with a net outflow of 2,520 for the previous March. Compared with March 2000, there were 1,000 more arrivals and 380 more departures during the month.

Seasonally adjusted permanent and long-term arrivals and departures balanced in March 2001, resulting in a zero net flow. This compares with a net loss of 2,630 for the previous month.

During the year ended March 2001, there were 66,460 permanent and long-term arrivals, and 79,060 departures. This resulted in a net outflow of 12,600 for the year. There was a net loss to Australia of 31,580 in 2001, 6,760 more than in the previous year. There were also net outflows to the United Kingdom and the United States, but net inflows from China, India, South Africa, Fiji, Japan and Samoa.

Dianne Macaskill DEPUTY GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN END

There is a companion Hot Off The Press information release published - External Migration: March 2001

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