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China, India boost immigration to New Zealand to record highs
June 22, 2015, 5:44 am

File photo: Tauranga Port in New Zealand [Image: gov.nz]

File photo: Tauranga Port in New Zealand [Image: gov.nz]

Lured by New Zealand’s economic boom, more and more Indians and Chinese are relocating to live in the South Pacific island nation.

The two Asian countries drove a record annual gain in migrants in the year to the end of May, the New Zealand government statistics agency said Monday.

New Zealand had a net gain (more arrivals than departures) of 5, 100 migrants last month, marginally down from a peak of 5,500 in January, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Annual permanent and long-term migration showed a record net gain of 57,800 migrants in May, the 10th straight month of annual records.

The increase in migrant arrivals in May was led by India, Australia, the Philippines, China and France, with the biggest net gains being migrants from India (12,100) and China (7,700).

Net migration to New Zealand has been mostly increasing in recent years.

Growing global demand for dairy products is the country’s biggest export earner.

Rising immigration has also added to the country’s buoyant labor supply, a Reuters report in 2014 showed.

The influx of skilled migrants from Asia are being snapped up by New Zealand firms focused on expansion after recovering from the global financial crisis of 2008.

 

TBP and Agencies