20 March 2008
Leap day affects February travel
New Zealand residents departed on 107,900 short-term trips overseas in February 2008, up 11,500 (12 percent) from
February 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today. Because 2008 is a leap year, there was one more day in February 2008
than in February 2007. If the 4,300 resident departures on this extra day were excluded, there would have been an
increase of 8 percent from February 2007.
In February 2008, there were more trips to Australia (up 6,700), and New Caledonia and the Cook Islands (both up 600),
compared with February 2007. In the year ended February 2008, New Zealand residents departed on 1.994 million overseas
trips, up 123,500 (7 percent) from the February 2007 year. There were more trips to Australia (up 46,500), France (up
7,300), China (up 7,000), the Cook Islands (up 6,400) and the United States (up 6,300), but fewer trips to Fiji (down
7,600).
In February 2008, the number of visitor arrivals to New Zealand increased by 12,900 (5 percent) from February 2007.
Comparing the first 28 days only, the increase drops to 1 percent. Total visitor arrivals in the February 2008 year were
up 52,500 (2 percent) from the previous year, to reach 2.485 million. There were more visitors from Australia and China,
but fewer visitors from Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals exceeded departures by 200 in February 2008. The
net PLT series averaged 500 between January and November 2007. The net PLT migration inflow was 4,600 in the February
2008 year, down from a net inflow of 13,200 in the February 2007 year. The net outflow to Australia was 29,600 in 2008,
compared with 22,200 in the previous year.
The net outflow to Australia is at its highest level since the year ended July 2001 (when it was 30,000). Net inflows
were recorded for the United Kingdom (6,900), India (4,200), the Philippines (3,200) and China (1,900). Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician 20 March 2008
ENDS