International Migration and Population Change in the 1990s: A New Regime?

Abstract

Late in 1994 the Government announced a review of immigration policy, especially the operation of the points system which was introduced in November 1991. International migration has increased rapidly since the Immigration Policy Review in 1986, and there have been net migration gains to New Zealand's population in every year since 31 March 1990. During 1994 numbers of prospective immigrants admitted under the points system exceeded 40,000. There is an expectation that the net migration gain for the year ending 31 March 1995 could reach 30,000. This is approaching the peak annual net gains of the early 1990s. Given that there will be considerable debate about immigration if such a high net gain is recorded, it seemed appropriate to assess more closely the impact which international migration in the 1990s has had on the size and age composition of New Zealand's population. This paper presents some summary findings from this analysis with particular reference to the period 1 April1990 and 31 March 1994.