Stats NZ figures showed a net gain of 9300 for the month, the lowest since last December. File pic Photo: 123rf
The inflow of migrants has set another record with a net gain of 128,900 for the year ended October, although the pace of growth is levelling out.
Stats NZ figures showed a net gain of 9300 for the month, the lowest since last December.
The migration surge was driven by people from India, the Philippines, China, and Fiji coming to fill labour market gaps and to study, with arrivals outnumbering the number leaving by nearly four-to-one.
The number of New Zealanders leaving over the past year was a record 44,500, with Australia the most favoured destination.
Earlier in the week Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the migration gains were unsustainable, and described the immigration system as a "complete hash".
"It's gone from being way too restrictive, to being way too loose," he told Morning Report.
Labour's new immigration spokesperson Phil Twyford said Luxon's comments were "a little surprising" given National's calls over the past year.
Twyford defended the Labour government's record, saying ministers had opened up settings "for the good of the economy" given the acutely tight labour market.
The Reserve Bank in its last monetary statement of the year pointed to a concern that the high level of immigration was becoming a concern through the stimulus it was giving to the economy and inflation via a demand for goods and services.
A population expert, Professor Paul Spoonley, has said New Zealand's net migration rate was unsustainable - and the government needed to consider the effects on infrastructure - and start a national conversation on future policy.