The number of people arriving in New Zealand on work and student visas continues to increase strongly, but their total numbers remain below pre-lockdown levels.
According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), 20,202 people arrived in NZ on work visas in January this year, and another 11,790 arrived on student visas.
Work visa arrivals last month were up 20% compared to January last year, while student visa arrivals were up 59% over the same period.
January is usually the busiest month of the year for foreign workers coming to NZ, and their numbers have climbed steadily each month since pandemic-related travel restrictions were eased in early 2022.
However overseas worker arrivals still have some way to go to get back to pre-lockdown levels, when arrivals peaked at 33,219 in January 2020.
Altogether, the MBIE data shows there were 187,683 people in NZ on work visas at the end of January this year.
Those numbers have been steadily increasing since October 2022, but are still well below the peak 222,051 in March 2020, just before pandemic travel restrictions were introduced.
However the drop in the number of people on work visas is not entirely due to fewer overseas workers coming during the lockdown. It is also a result thousands of people transferring from work visas to residence visas.
Overseas student numbers are also steadily rising but still remain well below pre-Covid levels.
There were 53,097 student visa holders in NZ at the end of January this year, down 27% compared to the 72,318 peak for the month of January, set in 2020.
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