Departures lift border crossing numbers

The number of people crossing New Zealand’s border went up in November 2021, mostly due to an increase in departures, Stats NZ said today.

There were 28,700 border crossings in November 2021, made up of 12,300 arrivals and 16,400 departures. Arrivals and departures were up by 1,300 and 6,600, respectively, compared with the previous month.

The increase in departures in November 2021 coincided with the opening of quarantine-free travel from New Zealand to Australia on 1 November 2021, subject to meeting Australian federal and state entry requirements.

“Historically, travel numbers tend to increase toward the end of the year, and provisional data for December 2021 shows a further increase in the number of border crossings, although levels overall are well below those before the COVID-19 pandemic,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

Border crossings include all arrivals and departures, either for short-term trips or longer-term migration, by people living overseas or in New Zealand.

Month-YearArrivalsDeparturesArrivals (provisional)Departures (provisional)
Apr-2020625631975
May-2020562210231
Jun-2020927014997
Jul-2020914018390
Aug-20201151514443
Sep-20201170015823
Oct-20201239213496
Nov-20201174113610
Dec-20201276617405
Jan-20211311913858
Feb-20211216013274
Mar-20211187814618
Apr-20214700338871
May-20219129998183
Jun-20218535090196
Jul-20217202775899
Aug-20211882122513
Sep-202182007855
Oct-2021110209752
Nov-202112324163701232416370
Dec-20211535526414

New Zealand citizens drive flows across the border

Border crossing numbers overall are well down on levels before the COVID-19 pandemic, and New Zealand citizens continue to be the largest single group of arrivals and departures each month.

Departures from New Zealand in November 2021 were led by citizens of New Zealand (7,100), followed by China (1,300), Australia (1,200), India (1,200), the United Kingdom (800), and the United States (600).

Week endedNew ZealandChinaIndiaUnited KingdomAustraliaUnited StatesOther citizenships
5-Sep72615111116270123427
12-Sep6321411041605296413
19-Sep6701451261145481483
26-Sep6841801081445784606
3-Oct7129915218371119752
10-Oct79019715114676105702
17-Oct10141862091228179791
24-Oct72722321313855129571
31-Oct7572252081588394689
7-Nov1783260299194511170735
14-Nov1597357201178262139976
21-Nov1818311324172253154933
28-Nov1556295294209213132945

Net migration loss

There was a provisional net migration loss of 4,000 people in the year ended November 2021, compared with a net migration gain of 47,000 in the year ended November 2020.

There was a net migration gain of 5,800 New Zealand citizens and a net migration loss of 9,800 non-New Zealand citizens in the year ended November 2021.

Migration is the subset of border crossings involving people who are changing the country they live in. This includes the flows of New Zealand citizens and non-New Zealand citizens as both affect the population living in New Zealand. The classification of travellers as migrants is based on their time spent in and out of New Zealand, using the 12/16-month rule.

/Stats NZ Public Release. View in full here.