Immigration: an election issue that has yet to be addressed?

Figures & data

Table 1. Selections from the skilled migrant category pool, October 2015-July 2016 and October 2016-July 2017.

	Period
Characteristic	2015–16	2016–17	% change
Total EOIs selected	16,518	10,792	−34.7
Total people included	35,358	20,669	−41.5
% EOIs with points over 140	70.7	100.0	29.3
% EOIs with points over 180	20.5	37.5	17.0
% EOIs with points over 200	9.4	15.2	5.8
% PAs with job offer	82.6	97.1	14.5
% PAs applied onshore	77.2	90.4	13.2
% PAs citizens of India	26.6	31.1	4.5
% PAs citizens of China	12.6	16.1	3.5
% PAs citizens of Great Britain	8.6	10.1	1.5
% PAs citizens of Philippines	11.8	9.1	−2.7
% PAs citizens of South Africa	6.6	5.6	−1.0
% PAs citizens of other countries	33.7	26.1	−7.6

Source of data: Migration trends, Corporate, Governance and Information Group, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, December 2017.

Table 2. Selections from the skilled migrant category pool, September-December 2016 and September-December 2017.

	Period
Characteristic	2015–16	2016–17	% change
Total EOIs selected	4262	3952	−7.3
Total people included	8680	8925	2.8
% EOIs with points over 140	87.2	100.0	12.8
% EOIs with points over 180	31.2	36.3	5.1
% EOIs with points over 200	13.8	16.5	2.7
% PAs with job offer	90.1	89.7	−0.4
% PAs applied onshore	83.3	83.2	−0.1
% PAs citizens of India	28.9	18.6	−10.3
% PAs citizens of China	14.9	16.2	1.3
% PAs citizens of Great Britain	9.5	11.9	2.4
% PAs citizens of Philippines	9.9	8.9	−1.0
% PAs citizens of South Africa	6.2	13.0	6.7
% PAs citizens of other countries	30.5	31.4	0.9

Source of data: Migration trends, Corporate, Governance and Information Group, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, December 2017.

Table 3. Skilled migrant residence approvals, 2016 and 2017.

	Period
Nationality	Jan-June 2016	Jan-June 2017	% change
a) January-June 2016 and January-June 2017
India	3084	2772	−10.1
China	1571	1713	9.0
Great Britain	1116	1135	1.7
Philippines	1922	1641	−14.6
South Africa	1392	1295	−7.0
Five main sources	9085	8556	−5.8
Other countries	4446	4146	−6.7
Total	13,531	12,702	−6.1
	Period
Nationality	July-Dec 2016	July-Dec 2017	% change
b) July-December 2016 and July-December 2017
India	2226	2018	−9.3
China	1214	632	−47.9
Great Britain	1180	757	−35.8
Philippines	1765	860	−51.3
South Africa	1618	843	−47.9
Five main sources	8003	5110	−36.1
Other countries	3435	2408	−29.9
Total	11,438	7518	−34.3

Source of data: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/research-and-statistics/statistics and unpublished data provided by Immigration New Zealand, March 2018

Table 4. Approvals under the capped parent, sibling and adult child category 1 October–30 June 2015/16 and 2016/17 compared.

	Period
Substream	Oct–June 2015/16	Oct-June 2016/17	Change
Family tier 1&2	2756	407	−2349
Parent	871	32	−839
Sibling	533	69	−464
Adult child	104	9	−95
Total	4264	517	−3747

Source of data: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/research-and-statistics/statistics

Table 5. Approvals in the temporary work visa substreams Three six-month periods compared, 2016–17.

	Period			% change
Visa substream	Jul-Dec 2016	Jan-June 2017	Jul-Dec 2017	Jul-Dec 16-Jul–Dec 17
Approved In Principle	935	959	1193	27.6
Crew	579	614	758	30.9
Humanitarian	412	469	557	35.2
Job Search	9583	10,134	7237	−24.5
LTBV/Investor	168	108	143	−14.9
Other	15,768	18,179	15,177	−3.7
Relationship	18,128	19,724	18,837	3.9
Section 61	1095	946	897	−18.1
Skilled Migrant	91	129	93	2.2
Skilled Work	18,347	20,153	21,044	14.7
Work-RSE	5211	6043	5367	3.0
Work to Residence	1881	2433	3904	107.5
Working Holiday	40,196	34,039	39,078	−2.8
Total	112,394	113,930	114,285	1.7

Source of data: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/research-and-statistics/statistics and unpublished data provided by Francis Collins, March 2018.

Table 6. Temporary job search and skilled work visas approved Three six-month periods compared, 2016–17.

	Period			% change
Nationality	Jul-Dec 2016	Jan-June 2017	Jul-Dec 2017	Jul-Dec 16–17
a) Job search substream
India	5359	5053	3335	−37.8
China	1767	2579	1905	7.8
Great Britain	15	25	13	−13.3
Philippines	956	712	534	−44.1
South Africa	7	18	5	−28.6
Five main sources	8104	8387	5792	−28.5
Other countries	1479	1747	1445	−2.3
Total	9583	10,134	7237	−24.5
b) Skilled work visa substream
India	2432	3351	3573	46.9
China	1227	1574	1636	33.3
Great Britain	2328	2358	2218	−4.7
Philippines	3006	3306	4162	38.5
South Africa	987	844	813	−17.6
Five main sources	9980	11,433	12,402	24.3
Other countries	8367	8720	8642	3.3
Total	18,347	20,153	21,044	14.7

Source of data: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/research-and-statistics/statistics and unpublished data provided by Francis Collins, March 2018.

Figure 1. Permanent and long-term net migration, 1875–2018 (March years).

Table 7. Components of population growth, New Zealand 2007–2017, Years ending 30 June.

Year	Natural increase	Net migration	Population growth	% growth net mig.
2007	33,800	10,100	43,900	23.0
2008	35,900	4700	40,600	11.6
2009	35,000	12,500	47,500	26.3
2010	36,200	16,500	52,700	31.3
2011	34,100	3900	38,000	10.3
2012	31,900	−3200	28,700	−11.1
2013	30,800	7900	38,700	20.4
2014	29,300	38,300	67,600	56.7
2015	27,700	58,300	86,000	67.8
2016	28,400	69,100	97,500	70.9
2017	28,100	72,300	100,400	72.0

Source of data: StatsNZ (2017d).

Table 8. PLT migration, NZ citizens and other citizens Years ending July 2017-February 2018.

Year ending	NZ citizens	Other citizens	Total
Arrivals
July	32,435	99,654	132,089
September	32,019	99,579	131,598
December	32,245	99,321	131,566
February	32,099	98,867	130,966
Diff, Jul-Feb	−336	−787	−1123
Departures
July	33,547	26,140	59,687
September	33,656	26,956	60,612
December	33,288	28,262	61,550
February	32,912	29,111	62,023
Diff, Jul-Feb	−635	2971	2336
Net migration
July	−1112	73,514	72,402
September	−1637	72,623	70,986
December	−1043	71,059	70,016
February	−813	69,756	68,943
Diff, Jul-Feb	299	−3758	−3459

Source of data: StatsNZ’s monthly international migration and travel information releases.

Table 9. Visa types for PLT arrivals (excluding NZ and Australian citizens) Years ending 30 December.

		PLT arrivals		% change
Visa type	2015	2016	2017	2015–17
Residence	14,073	16,535	15,464	9.9
Study	27,868	24,562	23,991	−13.9
Work	37,759	41,576	46,222	22.4
Visitor	5716	6220	6502	13.8
Other	805	708	643	−20.1
Total	86,221	89,601	92,822	7.7

Source of data: StatsNZ (2018b).

Table 10. PLT and outcomes-based net migration Year ending September 2016.

Nationality	PLT net migration	Outcomes-based net migration	Difference (Outcomes-PLT)
India	10,667	14,970	4303
China	10,041	11,877	1836
Great Britain	5958	1377	−4581
Philippines	5870	8133	2263
South Africa	3602	4860	1258
Five main sources	36,138	41,217	5079
Other countries	33,807	23,283	−10,524
Total	69,945	64,500	−5445

Source of data: Unpublished data provided by StatsNZ and StatsNZ (2018c).

StatsNZ. 2017d Aug 14. National population estimates: at 30 June 2017. Hot Off The Press. [accessed 2017 Sept 24]; http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/NationalPopulationEstimates_HOTPAt30Jun17.aspx.

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StatsNZ. 2018b Feb 2. International travel and migration: December 2017. Information Release. [accessed 2018 March 13]; https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/international-travel-and-migration-december-2017.

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StatsNZ. 2018c March 2. Outcomes-based net migration updated. Information Release. [accessed 2018 March 18]; https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/outcomes-based-net-migration-updated.

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