Auckland attracting at least 21,825 migrants a year, another 5,735 head to Canterbury

Migration pushed up Auckland's population by 21,825 and Canterbury's population by 5,735, in the 12 months to October.

The latest figures from Statistics NZ show that net overseas migration into Auckland and Canterbury has increased five fold since 2012, while migration flows into other regions have been relatively modest.

In Auckland, the net population gain from overseas migration has increased from 4,070 in the 12 months to October 2012, to 8,702 in the 12 months to October 2013, and then more than doubled again to 21,825 in the 12 months to October 2014 (see table below).

That's a five-fold increase over the last three years.

In Canterbury it is a similar story, but on a smaller scale.

In the year to October 2011 there was a net loss of 356 people, possibly as result of people leaving the region to live overseas after the Christchurch earthquakes, although every region in the country except Auckland suffered a net loss of population due to overseas migration over that period (see table below).

There was a sharp turnaround in Canterbury the following year, with migration adding 4,140 residents over the 12 months to October 2013, and that increased to 5,735 in the year to October 2014.

Around the rest of the country, there was modest population growth from migration in all regions except Gisborne, which posted a loss of 47 people.

The table below shows how population changes due to overseas migration have gone from negative to positive in most most parts of the country over the last three years.  

However the population growth from migration may be much greater in some parts of the country than the figures suggest because more more than a quarter of the permanent and long-term migrants coming in to the country did not provide a regional destination when they arrived.

Potentially, that could mean Auckland's gain from migration could have been closer to 30,000 people over the last year than the 20,000 people listed in the official statistics.

See the table below for the regional breakdown.

*Permanent and long-term arrivals minus permanent and long term departures.

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