New Zealand's migration influx continues to rise as more and more Indian and Chinese students flock to courses in the country.
New Zealand had a net gain of 60,300 migrants in the year to August year. It's the 13th time in a row that a record has been set, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.
Migrant arrivals rose 13 per cent to a record 117,900, while departures fell five per cent to 57,600.
Foreign students have been a boon to New Zealand education businesses, with their contribution growing faster compared to fees generated by local students.
In the latest year, student visas rose by 6,400 to 26,800. Of those, 10,600 were from India and 5,100 from China.
Work visas issued climbed by 4,600 to 35,900, with people from the UK the biggest single source at 6,100.
Overall, India contributed most to the gain in migrant arrivals, at 12,700 in the year, followed by 8,400 from China, 4,500 from the Philippines and 3,800 from the UK.
The decline in migrant departures was mainly due to fewer Kiwis leaving for Australia.
Departures of New Zealand citizens to Australia fell 16 per cent to 21,600 in the August 2015 year, helping trim the net loss to just 500, the lowest level since 1991.
The net outflow to Australia peaked at 40,000 in the August 2012 year.
Auckland was the biggest recipient of migrants in the latest year, at 27,900, followed by Canterbury on 6,700 and Waikato at 2,300.
Half of all migrants to state an address on their arrival card were moving to the Auckland region.
New Zealand welcomed a record 3.02 million short-term visitors in the August 2015 year, up eight per cent from the August 2014 year.
Of that, 1.29 million were from Australia, 320,400 from China, and 236,300 from the US, contributing a combined 61 per cent of the total.
New Zealand residents also broke records in the August year, departing for a record 2.36 million overseas trips, up six per cent from the same period a year earlier.
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