Overseas visitor arrivals up 2 percent

Short-term overseas visitor arrivals (322,200) in December 2008 were up 4,900 (2 percent) compared with December 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today. This figure was the highest monthly total ever recorded.

Visitor arrivals from Australia at 132,900 were up 7,100 (6 percent) from December 2007, also the highest ever monthly total. There were drops in visitor arrivals from Korea (down 2,700), the United Kingdom (down 1,900) and Japan (down 1,600).

The 2.459 million visitor arrivals recorded in the December 2008 year were down 7,200 (less than 1 percent) from the previous December year.

New Zealand residents departed on 187,300 short-term overseas trips in December 2008, down 12,400 (6 percent) from December 2007. There were fewer trips to all the top 10 destinations including Fiji (down 1,400 or 18 percent), China (down 1,300 or 13 percent), the United States (down 1,100 or 13 percent) and the United Kingdom (down 700 or 8 percent). For the December 2008 year, New Zealand resident departures numbered 1.967 million, down 13,100 (1 percent) from the previous year.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals exceeded PLT departures by 300 for the month of December 2008.

In the December 2008 year, there was a net outflow of 35,400 PLT migrants to Australia, up from 28,000 the previous year. The December 2008 year net outflow to Australia is the highest recorded, and exceeds previous peaks recorded in the January 1989 year (33,700) and the December 1979 year (33,400). The net figure (the difference between arrivals and departures) in the December 2008 year resulted from 48,500 PLT departures to Australia, partly offset by 13,100 PLT arrivals from Australia. Almost two-thirds of PLT arrivals from Australia were New Zealand citizens.

Despite the net PLT outflow to Australia, New Zealand's overall net PLT migration balance (3,800) was positive in the December 2008 year. However, the balance was down from 5,500 in the December 2007 year, and was the lowest December year figure since 2000.