An astonishing number of New Zealanders, the highest in 20 years, made the move across the Tasman in 2007 to live and work in Australia, taking advantage of the country’s booming economy.

Indeed, although migration to New Zealand from destinations including the UK is at a virtual all-time high, the rate at which locals are relocating to Australia resulted in New Zealand’s population increasing by just 20 people in the month of December 2007.

No one can question the attractiveness of New Zealand, as the 82,000 people who migrated there in 2007 would testify, however, at the same time, some 77,000 born and bread Kiwis left the country in the same year, meaning little was actually achieved in terms of boosting the under-staffed workforce.

Statistics New Zealand released the following statement:

“In December 2007, there was a net outflow of 2,500 Permanent Long Term (PLT) migrants to Australia, up from the outflow of 1,700 in December 2006.

“So, in the year to December, Permanent Long Term migration into the country more than halved to reach 5,500, down from 14,600 in the year to December 2006.

“In the year ended December 2007, there were 82,600 PLT arrivals, down 200 (less than 1%) from the December 2006 year.

“Over the same period, there were 77,100 PLT departures, up 9,000 (13%). As a result, net PLT migration was 5,500 in the December 2007 year, down from 14,600 in the December 2006 year.

“The net outflow to Australia was 28,000 in 2007, compared with 20,700 the previous year.

“This takes the net outflow to Australia to its highest level for a December year since 1988 (when it was 33,400). Net PLT inflows were recorded from the United Kingdom (7,100), India (3,600) and the Philippines (3,200).”

One of the reasons why the Australian economy is doing so well at present is the high levels of immigration it is currently experiencing from a number of different sources including Australian skilled visa applications, business visa applications and student visa applications. Overall, the 28,000 Kiwis that made the move across the Tasman in 2007 accounted for just under 10 per cent of Australia’s total migrant intake