New Zealand’s net migration gain of 13,700 in the June 2025 year was down from a net gain of 70,400 in the June 2024 year, according to provisional estimates released by Stats NZ.

“The main driver of the fall in net migration in the June 2025 year was fewer migrant arrivals of non-New Zealand citizens,” international migration statistics spokesperson Bryan Downes said. 

“Despite the fall in arrivals, there was still a net migration gain of 60,200 non-New Zealand citizens, which more than offset a net loss of 46,500 New Zealand citizens.” 

The net migration gain of 60,200 non-New Zealand citizens in the June 2025 year was down from a net gain of 115,800 in the June 2024 year. 

BusinessNZ has welcomed today’s announcement by Immigration Minister Erica Stanford introducing two new seasonal visa pathways - the Global Workforce Seasonal Visa and the Peak Seasonal Visa - as a pragmatic step to better match immigration settings with business needs.

BusinessNZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich says the new visa categories are a smart evolution in immigration policy that recognises the operational realities of New Zealand’s seasonal industries.

"Many sectors - from winemaking and meat processing to snow sports and shearing - rely on highly experienced workers for specific windows of time each year. These new visa pathways make it easier for businesses to bring back skilled seasonal staff when they’re needed most, without having to start from scratch every year."

The Global Workforce Seasonal Visa allows skilled workers to return over multiple years, while the Peak Seasonal Visa provides a more tailored short-term solution for high-demand roles during seasonal peaks.

"This is a significant improvement on previous settings, which often created unnecessary red tape and uncertainty. Reducing the need for repeat visa applications not only lowers compliance costs but also improves planning and workforce continuity," Mrs Rich said.

BusinessNZ says the changes are also important for productivity and regional growth.

"Seasonal industries make an outsized contribution to New Zealand’s economy. These changes mean more certainty for employers, less disruption to operations, and better outcomes for customers and export markets."

BusinessNZ also welcomed the Government’s broader focus on rebalancing immigration to meet genuine workforce needs, while maintaining a strong commitment to jobs for New Zealanders.

"We support efforts to ensure New Zealanders are given every opportunity first, but where there are genuine shortages, immigration settings must be practical and responsive.

"This announcement sends a clear signal that the Government is listening to employers and adjusting policy to support growth, resilience, and competitiveness across the country," Mrs Rich said.

The new visa pathways will be available from 8 December 2025, replacing the interim Specific Purpose Work Visa and complementing the existing Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
 

The expansion of the Work to Residence immigration pathway to include more skilled tradespeople reflects the real needs of businesses, says the EMA.

From 18 August, 10 trades occupations, including welders, fitters, metal fabricators, panel beaters and paving plant operators, will be added to the Green List’s Work to Residence pathway.

EMA Advocacy and Stakeholder Engagement Lead Joanna Hall says the announcement acknowledges what businesses have long been expressing.

"These are roles that our members have been struggling to fill for some time," she says.

"The EMA has been pushing hard for greater recognition of these skilled trades roles in our immigration settings.

"These aren’t just labour shortages, these are productivity chokepoints."

The policy change supports the government’s effort to better balance the immigration system, which has traditionally favoured tertiary-qualified applicants.

"Immigration Minister Erica Stanford’s comments around ensuring the system better reflects a broader set of valuable skills - not just those tied to a university degree - is a positive step in the right direction," says Hall.

"Skilled trades are essential to New Zealand’s manufacturing, construction and infrastructure sectors. These businesses make up the bulk of our membership, so we’re well aware of the struggles they have faced in filling key roles.

"Migrants help lift productivity and pass on knowledge that strengthens the local workforce."

The new Work to Residence eligibility criteria require applicants to have two years of relevant experience in New Zealand and meet health, character, and wage thresholds.

Hourly wage thresholds range from $38.59 to $43.63 depending on the role, with annual salaries between $80,267 and $90,750 based on a 40-hour week.

However, Hall says some of these thresholds may be out of sync with real market conditions.

"While we support mechanisms that uphold quality, the wage thresholds do seem high for certain roles and could limit access if they aren’t aligned with industry rates.

"We urge Immigration NZ to ensure these thresholds are grounded in reality.

"In addition, it’s important that the value of these trades is recognised not only in the Green List but also in the Skilled Migrant Category."

The EMA continues to support balanced and evidence-based immigration policy that reflects workforce realities and helps New Zealand businesses grow.
 

New Zealand had a net migration gain of 27,100 in 2024. This was down from a net gain of 128,300 in 2023, according to provisional estimates released by Stats NZ today.

“Ups and downs in net migration are a feature of New Zealand’s history. These have been much larger in 2023 and 2024,” international migration statistics spokesperson Sarah Drake said.

Annually, net migration rose by just over 100,000 in 2023 and fell by a similar amount in 2024. There was still a net migration gain overall.

“The main driver of the fall in net migration in 2024 was fewer migrant arrivals of non-New Zealand passport holders,” Drake said.

BusinessNZ welcomes changes to work visas as a step in the right direction, says BusinessNZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich.

"Removing the requirement to pay the median wage will help relieve cost pressures and distortions that this rule created in the labour market, with international workers commanding a premium over their New Zealand counterparts in many occupations. This compounded inflation pressures in recent years.

"The changes are a positive start to what will need to be a continuing programme of refinement to immigration settings to ensure that businesses can get the skills they need to support economic recovery and growth. The vast majority of businesses use immigration responsibly and as a last resort to source skills that are not available in New Zealand. We foresee that demand for immigration will pick up again and businesses need to be able to rely on an immigration system that does not have unnecessary barriers and bureaucracy, and is timely and efficient.

"It is positive to see the Government signalling greater responsiveness to business needs, particularly in meeting seasonal peaks in demand. This will greatly support our export industries. There is a significant work programme necessary to get the immigration system fit for purpose and user-friendly, however these initial changes are a step in the right direction," Mrs Rich said.
 

After much anticipation and months of preparation the day has finally come for the release of Conroy Removals’ new look website. With a bright fresh new look and feel the website was designed to turn the otherwise tedious process of moving, into an exciting time and experience. There's less focus on the actual move itself, and more emphasis on looking forward to enjoying the destination.

Moving can be a stressful event but is often followed by lots of excitement as people get to enjoy a new destination, a new home, or be near familiar faces.

Everyone is on a journey and the Conroy Removals team aim to interact and engage with their client as much as possible, understanding that they are the people moving and Conroys are a vehicle helping them get there. Social media will form a key element of what they are doing as well. They want people to tell them about their experiences, tell them about the fun things they are enjoying at their new destination, or perhaps share moving tips that others may be able to benefit from. 

Other new features of the website include an instant quote and booking system for the transportation of items bought and sold on TradeMe, and mini moves around New Zealand, and with their online payment solutions they have added secure online bank transfers using Account2Account.

Conroy Removals have packed the new site with lots of useful information with the purpose of educating those on the move. There's also their complete suite of glossy flyers and brochures, online documents and plenty of links to government agencies for those moving abroad. They hope people will enjoy the site and look forward to filling it with useful information and functionality to help customers on their journey.

Conroy Removals is one of New Zealand's leading removal companies and each year take care of removal services for thousands of people moving locally, around New Zealand and all over the world. With branches throughout New Zealand and Australia, and global partners throughout the rest of the world Conroy Removals have the experience, resources and stability to provide you with a friendly and professional moving service, delivering your belongings safely and securely, so if you are moving soon, contact Conroy Removals through their website at http://www.conroy.co.nz .

As Conroy Removals are so well-known for moving Kiwis across to Australia and Aussies back here over the ditch, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that they are also totally involved in moving New Zealanders around New Zealand. Conroy have what they call their ‘suite of services’, for residential moving, covering everything from single items to complete household contents. These services include ‘local’ moving within Auckland, Tauranga, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Nelson and Dunedin, in other words, national moving around the country, as well as international moving to and from New Zealand.

Conroy Removals is one of New Zealand’s leading removal companies and each year take care of removal services for thousands of people moving locally, around New Zealand and all over the world. With branches throughout New Zealand and Australia and global partners throughout the rest of the world Conroy Removals have the experience, resources and stability to provide their customers with a friendly and professional moving service, delivering their belongings safely and securely.

Conroy Removals is a full moving service provider offering a complete range of services to cater for their clients’ needs providing overseas moving to and from any corner of the world, national moving around New Zealand and local moving in Auckland, Tauranga, Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Christchurch. To accompany any move they also specialise in careful packing with their trained professionals, offer easy insurance for peace of mind and have convenient storage in their secure facilities. To complete the move they can take care of motor vehicle shipping and foreign exchange services.

People can have confidence when choosing Conroy Removals to help them with their move as for more than 40 years Conroy Removals has been a leading name in household goods moving - long enough to know the business inside out and long enough to have come across, and dealt with, just about every moving eventuality. Most importantly Conroy Removals values their customers, and it is the number one goal of the company to ensure they receive great service from start to finish

Conroy Removals can move people just about anywhere, with its comprehensive national and international network. The safety and security of their customers’ valued possessions are of upmost importance and a modern fleet of specialist furniture vehicles, dedicated employees and modern technology ensures Conroy Removals’ quality service is experienced by all their clients.

For further information please visit the website at http://www.conroy.co.nz. 

International Visitor Arrivals to New Zealand is produced by Statistics New Zealand and sponsored by Tourism New Zealand. It is a monthly report that includes detailed tables and graphs of monthly and annual data showing the number and characteristics of visitor arrivals. Most of the data is presented by country, for a selection of major source countries of visitors to New Zealand.

Visitor arrival data comes from Statistics NZ's International Travel and Migration dataset. This dataset is derived from information contained in electronic records supplied by the New Zealand Customs Service, as well as from arrival and departure cards completed by passengers.

This report contains statistics on short-term overseas visitor arrivals, defined as overseas residents arriving in New Zealand for a stay of less than 12 months.

Available files

International Visitor Arrivals to New Zealand: March 2013   (PDF, 91 pages, 485kb)
International Visitor Arrivals to New Zealand: March 2013 – tables   (Excel, 56 sheets, 2.94mb)

Although the trend may have slowed up slightly, there is still a huge number of Kiwis moving to Australia and the people who will know the most about this phenomenon are the team at Ausmove, the number one company for moving people from New Zealand ‘across the ditch’. Now in their 21st year of moving New Zealanders’ personal effects to Australia from Auckland, Ausmove is a knowledgeable international moving company, 100% New Zealand owned and operated and are the only dedicated mover of Kiwi households shipping to Australia.

The team at Ausmove offer ‘stress-free’ moving and their experienced moving consultants will tailor a quote to individual needs and provide support to their clients throughout their move, offering a seamless personalised service from the initial enquiry, collection, sea freight, customs clearance and delivery to unpacking in a new address in Australia. They can also offer safe storage if it is required, with long or short term storage available when emigrating from New Zealand to Australia.

One of the most important aspects of moving from New Zealand to Australia is that of moving a motor vehicle. This is often overlooked by people when they are making their arrangements to move and it is probably actually more complicated than moving an entire household. To this end, it is good to note that Ausmove’s consultants are fully trained in car shipping to Australia logistics and are well versed in the procedures and requirements of Australian vehicle importation, making them a leader amongst car shipping companies to Australia.

The professional consultants at Ausmove will be able to give an estimate of duties/GST applicable on importing a car into Australia. They will also be able to guide customers through their import application with the Australian Department of Transport and Road Safety. They recommend that, prior to contacting them, departing customers may wish to view the Australian Department of Road Safety’s website at http://www.infrastructure.gov.au/ Once on the site, click on the ‘Vehicle Imports’ tab on the right of the page.
As one of Auckland’s leading movers to Australia, Ausmove can provide a full packing service to take the stress out of any move. However, if customers feel they would like to do it themselves, the team at Ausmove have a few tips to help people get started. They offer a very extensive and helpful list of tips to the first-time packer, and these can all be found on their website at http://www.ausmove.co.nz. They also offer information on insurance, and tips on moving pets to Australia.

Migrants to New Zealand may be eligible for an exemption in respect of the declaration of certain overseas income in New Zealand, and in respect of any liability to pay New Zealand tax on such income. Such migrants are called “transitional residents”.

Some general points are as follows:

• The exemption is available to new migrants and returning New Zealanders who have not been tax resident in New Zealand for at least 10 years.
• The exemption is available once in a lifetime.
• The maximum time period for  the exemption is 49 months.
• The exemption applies to most overseas income, except employment income and business income from personal services, relating to the post migration period.
• Working for families tax credits are not available to people taking advantage of the tax exemption. To see whether you will be better off with or without the tax exemption, you can use the calculators on the Inland Revenue Department's website, or talk to us.
• An application for working for families tax credits should only be made if you and your partner have decided to waive the exemption.
• If you have foreign losses, and in certain other circumstances, you may be better off waiving the exemption.
• If you are the settlor of a New Zealand foreign trust migrating to New Zealand this will affect the status of your trust. Taking advantage of the exemption will defer the loss of the tax advantages associated with having a foreign trust.

Please contact us in confidence if you need assistance with any aspect of these rules.

Kristina Andersen
Andersen Accountants Limited
Telephone: 09 3695198
Email: Kristina@andersen.co.nz
Website: www.andersen.co.nz

The number of visitor arrivals in December 2012 (364,000) was nearly unchanged from December 2011, but was up 5 percent from December 2010, Statistics New Zealand said today.

"Although there wasn't much change in volume from 2011, there were still differences by country," population statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. "Compared with 2011, December 2012 visitor arrivals from China, Japan, and Germany increased, while arrivals from Australia, the United Kingdom, and Malaysia decreased."

The increase from China continued a growing number of monthly visitor arrivals from that country since May 2010. Japan's increase was a recovery from drops in 2011 after the Christchurch earthquake in February and Japan's earthquake and tsunami in March.

In the December 2012 year, 2.565 million visitors arrived in New Zealand, down 1 percent from 2011, when the Rugby World Cup was held. The largest increase by far was in visitors from China, but this was countered by decreases from the United Kingdom, France, and South Africa.

New Zealand residents departed on 216,800 overseas trips in December 2012. This was fewer than the 218,900 trips taken in December 2011, but was still more than the 206,000 trips in December 2010.

In the December 2012 year, New Zealand residents departed on 2.169 million overseas trips, up 4 percent from the previous year. The biggest increases were in trips to the United States (up 17,300) and Australia (up 15,600). Trips to the United States were helped by a favourable currency exchange rate.

Net migration zero 

New Zealand had seasonally adjusted net migration of zero in December 2012, when arrivals equalled departures. This is close to the average monthly net loss of 100 migrants over the past year. The seasonally adjusted net loss to Australia was 3,300 in December 2012, the same as the average net outflow to Australia per month since March 2011.

In the December 2012 year, New Zealand had a net loss of 1,200 migrants. There has been an annual net loss of migrants since the October 2011 year, peaking at 4,100 in the February and August 2012 years.

The net loss of migrants to Australia in the December 2012 year was 38,800, down from the record of 40,000 in the August 2012 year. The December 2012 annual figure resulted from 53,700 departures to Australia, offset by 14,900 arrivals. In both directions, most migrants were New Zealand citizens.

There were net gains of migrants from most other countries, led by the United Kingdom (5,700), China (5,200), and India (5,100).

See also:  International Travel and Migration: December 2012  –  Information release

Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today have confirmed that international visitor arrivals to New Zealand were up by 0.8 per cent for the month of November.

Total arrivals for the year ending November were marginally down by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous 12 months which included the significant RWC 2011 arrivals.

"Comparing total arrivals for year ending November 2012 against 2010 figures we see an increase of 1.7 per cent, signifying small underlying growth when we take out the impact of the RWC 2011," says Kevin Bowler, Chief Executive Tourism New Zealand.

"As we head into the summer high-season, it is encouraging to see that visitor arrivals have been maintained."

Australian visitor arrivals were up 2.5 per cent for the month while arrivals were up 1.0 per cent for the year.

Arrivals from Asia remain strong with China, Japan, Indonesia and Korea all showing strong growth. The increase in arrivals from Japan, up 3.3 per cent in November, indicates on-going recovery in the market.

Chinese arrivals grew 17.6 per cent for the month, seeing China overtake the United Kingdom to become New Zealand's second biggest source of visitors in the November 2012 year.

"It is now more than a year since we started seeing significant growth from the China market, and while we anticipate the growth to continue it is unlikely that we will see the huge percentages continue.

"Over the past year, this route has witnessed a flight frequency increase from three times weekly to daily.

The recent MOU signed with China Southern, and the daily flights between China and Auckland that started in November 2011, will help support this continued growth.

"China represents a huge growth opportunity for New Zealand. The challenge for the industry in 2013 will be to increase awareness of the range of activities and experiences - and encourage Chinese visitors to stay longer and do more while they are here."