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Aiport arrivals - Source: ONE News -
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More Kiwis are choosing to stay at home as are overseas visitors, according to the latest immigration figures from Statistics New Zealand.
There were 135,200 short-term visitor arrivals in June, down 5%, or 7,300 arrivals, compared with the same month last year.
Of those visitors, there were fewer arrivals from Japan (down 67% or 4,700), Korea (down 48% or 2,900), and China (down 49% or 2,500).
However, visitors from Australia were up for the tenth month in a row by 9%, or 6,000, compared with June 2008.
In the year to June 2009, 2.4 million visitors arrived in New Zealand, down 68,400 or 3% compared with the June 2008 year.
The number of Kiwis departing on short-term trips in June was also down 5% to 176,300 compared with 186,000 in June 2008. Statistics New Zealand says this is the eighth consecutive month in which departures were lower for the same month in 2008.
Of the short-term departures in June, Kiwis made fewer trips to Australia (down 5,400 or 7%), the United Kingdom (down 1,900 or 14%), and Fiji (down 1,100 or 9%).
In the year to June 2009, there were fewer short-term departures of Kiwis, down 3% to 1.92 million.
Migration
Migrants are continuing to come to New Zealand, outweighing the number of Kiwis departing permanently or on a long-term basis (PLT).
In June there were 1,700 more PLT arrivals than departures on a seasonally adjusted basis, though net PLT migration was down from 2,600 in May 2009 and 2,100 in April 2009.
There were net inflows of migrants from India, the United Kingdom and the Philippines.
Statistics New Zealand says the increase not only reflects fewer PLT departures of Kiwis but also the return of Kiwis to New Zealand.
In the year ended June 2009 there was a net PLT gain of 12,500.
