Tauranga is experiencing population growth despite Covid-19. Photo / File
More than 2000 people have moved to the Bay from overseas between April and September - but only a limited number of those were resident Kiwis who can work, the region's economic development agency says.
The impact of Covid-19 and border restrictions has also halved the number of migrants
but
the Western Bay is still on track for massive population growth.
Returning expats were cutting a track to Tauranga. However, residents who have moved from other regions were the biggest newcomers
Business leaders say the population boom will bolster the economy while desirable skill sets were a welcomed asset for the labour market.
Figures from Stats NZ show from April 2020 to September 2100 overseas resident arrivals provided a street address for the Bay of Plenty. But only 168 of those were of working age and classified as "long term or permanent".
Nationally over those timeframes 53,500 arrivals were New Zealand-resident travellers returning after being overseas for less than 12 months. Meanwhile, another 22,500 were New Zealand citizens.
But population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said migration remained low with more New Zealand citizens arriving due to Covid-19 and border restrictions.
Overseas resident arrivals have included teachers, engineering professionals, labourers, midwives, nurses and specialist managers.
Meanwhile, there were 3080 permanent and long-term arrivals to the Bay of Plenty in the nine months to September in 2019 and that dropped to 1747 in the same period this year.
A survey by the Kiwi Expat Association that had more than 15,000 responses from people in regions including the UK, Australia, US and Canada revealed half were considering coming home - many within the next year.
Auckland was the most favoured destination but the Bay of Plenty rated fourth after Wellington and Canterbury with 7 per cent indicating they could move here.
President Toni Truslove said New Zealand's offshore Kiwi population has worked hard to build lives, careers, and often businesses overseas.
"Their global perspective, experience and ideas will be a welcome addition to our labour market, to our business community and with many indicating their desire to live in regional New Zealand, to our local economies.
"Survey results indicate a high percentage currently operate in highly desirable industries such as technology, agritech, medtech and a number in industries where we need volume of workers such as healthcare and education."
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said many businesses were looking for expertise that is not currently available in the local labour market.
"It is great to bring a lot of skilled talent into the city."
Anecdotally, we are experiencing a lot of domestic migrants from other cities into Tauranga, he said.
"The empowerment of working remotely or starting your own business will make it easier to leave the bigger cities of Wellington and Auckland, particularly with their housing pressures."
Meanwhile, increasing the housing supply and infrastructure to proactively manage the growing city was critical, he said.
Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said while the overall number of arrivals to the Bay looks large, it's not really.
"Migration to New Zealand has slowed significantly since we shut the border.
"This data measures arrivals only."
According to Infometrics the Western Bay estimated resident population increased by 6900 people in the year ended June 2020. A jump of 3.4 per cent.
Tutt said the increase was "similar to what we've seen over the last six years" and that would continue.
But businesses had reported it was easier to recruit good talent.
"We're seeing lots of demand from highly skilled prospective migrants in particular."
1st Call Recruitment managing director Phill van Syp said there had been increased inquiries from expats who were "overseas or had landed".
Queries from England and Australia had been particularly strong and there were jobs across the market.
There were vacancies in building and civil construction while qualified tradespeople were in hot demand.
"About 95 per cent of our clients are getting busier by the minute."
On the housing front Simon Anderson, managing director of the Realty Group Ltd, which operates Eves and Bayleys, said expats were definitely having an impact on the market.
But the majority of its business was still done locally with the exception of people moving into the region that caused a domino effect.
"The vast majority is people buying and selling that live here. Then we have those coming in and buying from Auckland or Wellington."
There has been a number of occasions when expats have come home as many had a close connection with the Mount and Tauranga.
Being able to operate businesses from anywhere in the world made the Bay a desirable lifestyle choice.
He said some expats bought houses sight unseen but that was very rare.