NEW Zealand's monthly net immigration was stronger than expected in March, rising to the highest level since January 2010.
Statistics New Zealand figures showed February's net immigration was also revised up. Six of the past seven months have seen net migration inflows, bringing the annual total above 2500, the highest since early 2011.
The Labour and Green parties have in the past been critical of the number of New Zealanders leaving the country for work in Australia.
The latest figures show departures by New Zealanders to Australia fell for a third straight month to 3310 - the lowest since early 2011.
The Opposition parties made no comment on the figures yesterday. Westpac senior economist Felix Delbruck said an improving trend in transtasman migration was now under way, in line with his view that labour market prospects in Australia were becoming steadily less attractive relative to New Zealand.
''Annual net migration remains below average but has already seen a remarkable turnaround from the net outflows we were seeing a year ago. We expect the trend to continue strengthening over the next couple of years as labour shortages associated with the Canterbury rebuild become more acute.''
Along with low interest rates, that would contribute to upward pressure on the housing market, Mr Delbruck said.
There was a net gain of 2542 new migrants in the 12 months ended March 31, compared with a net loss of 3383 a year earlier. The United Kingdom remained the dominant pool for net positive migration with an annual gain of 6069, followed by 5383 from China and 4858 from India.
Short-term visitor numbers rose to a seasonally adjusted 226,650 in March from 224,420 in February and up from 210,770 a year earlier. The earlier Easter holiday was seen the main cause behind the increase in the March numbers, with the biggest monthly gains from Australia, the UK and US.
The figures came a day after Prime Minister John Key announced plans to spend an extra $158 million on tourism.
