Migration boom making New Zealand poorer, say critics

New Zealand continued a 14-month run of record inward migration in September, prompting claims that the economy is failing to keep up with the influx.

The government statistics agency said Wednesday that the country had a record net gain, more arrivals than departures, of 61,200 migrants in the year to the end of September.

India contributed 12,900 to the net gain, China 8,500, the Philippines 4,700, and Britain 3,700, according to Statistics New Zealand.

Around 24,700 migrant arrivals came from Australia, with two thirds of them being New Zealand citizens.

The record annual permanent and long-term net gain of migrants in the September 2015 year resulted from 118,900 migrant arrivals, and 57,600 migrant departures.

The main opposition Labour Party said the economy was failing to keep up with the migration boom, and New Zealanders were getting poorer individually.

"For the first six months of this year, GDP per capita has been negative and is the worst we have seen since 2011," Labour finance spokesperson Grant Robertson said in a statement.

"In September 2014, it was 11,931 NZ dollars (8,057 U.S. dollars). According to migration statistics released today in June 2015, GDP per capita was 11,924 NZ dollars (8,053 U.S. dollars)," said Robertson.

"Simply, the economy is not keeping pace with migration, making us less productive. This is only likely to get worse with Treasury forecasting that growth may slip below 2 percent," he said.

"It will lead to lower wages and fewer job opportunities. It's lose-lose for New Zealand." Endit