Record overseas trips in May

Short-term trips by New Zealand residents were up 10 percent in May 2011, compared with May 2010, Statistics New Zealand said today. The 181,900 short-term departures were a record for a May month, higher than the previous record of 174,000 in 2008. More trips were taken to Australia, the Cook Islands, and South-East Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore).

"The increase in trips to Malaysia and Singapore follows the launch of new flights to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore earlier this year," Population Statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. "The increase in trips to Thailand, while influenced by the new flights, was also a recovery after civil unrest in that country in May 2010."

Visitor arrivals in May 2011 (140,700) were just below the 141,300 visitor arrivals in May 2010. There were more visitors from Australia and twice as many visitors from Malaysia. The increase from Malaysia was also influenced by the launch of flights between Kuala Lumpur and Christchurch in April 2011, and additional Singapore-Auckland flights that started in March 2011.

Fewer visitors arrived from Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Arrivals from the United Kingdom have declined in most months since April 2007, while arrivals from Japan and Korea dropped noticeably after the Christchurch earthquake in February 2011.

Net outflow to Australia record for May

Permanent and long-term (PLT) departures to Australia outnumbered arrivals by 3,300 in May 2011, more than the previous record for a May month of 2,900 in 1979.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, there was an overall net outflow of 400 PLT migrants in May 2011. Net migration has been negative since March 2011, when departures from Christchurch jumped following the earthquake which damaged the city on 22 February.

Departures of Christchurch residents remained high in May 2011, numbering 800, up from 500 departures in May 2010. Since the earthquake on 22 February, the city has experienced 1,300 more departures and 400 fewer arrivals than in the same period of 2010.

New Zealand had a net migration gain of 4,600 in the year ended May 2011, down from 18,000 the previous year, and below the average annual net migration gain of 12,000 over the last 20 years. The decrease in net migration compared with 2010 was mainly due to an increase in departures to Australia.

Geoff Bascand 21 June 2011

Government Statistician