Quarterly Migration Report - March 2008 Quarter

This series of quarterly reports gives an update of actual external migration statistics for children based on data provided by Statistics New Zealand (SNZ). The reports comment on the emerging trends in migration and the potential impact on schools.

Author: Michael Chang, Ministry of Education

Published: July 2008

Executive Summary

In the year ending March 2008 we saw the highest level of permanent and long-term (PLT) departures of 0 to 17 year-olds since 1993. Coupled with lower arrivals, we have seen a decline in net PLT migration from 4,262 in the March 2007 year to 1,505 in the March 2008 year.

For the March 2008 quarter, there was an overall net PLT migration inflow of 263. This consists of a net outflow of 161 pre-school-age children, a net outflow of 128 primary school-age children and a net inflow of 552 secondary school-age children. Overall, we are seeing higher outflows and lower inflows for all three age groups compared to same quarter last year.

Table 1 - Net Migration for the Year and Quarter ending March 2008

Net Migration	Year Ending			Quarter Ending
Net Migration	March 2007 *	March 2008 *	Difference **	March 2007 *	March 2008 *	Difference **
Pre-School	681	57	-624	-41	-161	-120
Primary School	1,732	352	-1,380	277	-128	-405
Secondary School	1,849	1,096	-753	827	552	-275
Total	4,262	1,505	-2,757	1,063	263	-800

* Positive means there was a net migration inflow; negative represents a migration outflow.
** Positive means net migration has increased compared to same period last year.