WELLINGTON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- About 71,900 more migrants arrived in New Zealand than left in the year ending in April 2017, Stats NZ said on Friday.
Migrant arrivals numbered 129,800 in the April 2017 year, a new annual record, while migrant departures were 57,900, according to a Stats NZ statement.
Between April 2016 and April 2017, 52,600 people arrived in New Zealand on student visas, of whom 23,900 were student migrants intending to stay for 12 months or more.
"Almost one in five migrant arrivals for the last 12 months were people coming to New Zealand to study," said population statistics senior manager Peter Dolan, adding that student arrivals from Asia dominated the overall student migrant arrivals, contributing almost three-quarters of the total.
By country of last permanent residence, one-fourth of total foreign student migrants are from India, which is the largest source, while 23 percent of the foreign students for the last 12 month are from China.
Of all the student migrants, 57 percent settle in the Auckland region, followed by Canterbury, Wellington, and Waikato regions, it said.
