Bay welcomes more migrants

A further 1886 migrants settled in the Bay in the year to July. Photo / File

The number of migrants in Hawke's Bay has risen 15.6 per cent in the year to July.

A net gain of 1886 migrants settled in the Bay in that time compared with 1631 in the previous year.

Onsite Recruitment's branch manager Megan Nicholson said they should not be seen as a threat to locals because the expertise skilled migrants brought was an asset to the region, .

"The employers will get more variety of highly skilled candidates to choose from."

She said most applications for basic roles came from locals, while migrants applied for most technical roles.

There had been a skills shortage in technical roles, offering more opportunities for people qualified in technical skills.

Horticulture and agriculture businesses were of particular interest to migrants, she said.

Nationwide unadjusted Statistics NZ figures showed a record net gain of 59,600 migrants in the July 2015 year. The annual gain in migrants has been setting new records for the past 12 months.

The increased net gain of migrants in the July 2015 year was driven by more arrivals and fewer departures. Migrant arrivals (117,100) continued to reach a new high, up 14 per cent from the July 2014 year.

Migrant departures numbered 57,500, down 6 per cent.

The increase in migrant arrivals between the July 2014 and July 2015 years was led by India, Australia, the Philippines and China. The increase in arrivals from Australia involved New Zealand citizens and non-New Zealand citizens.

The fall in migrant departures was mainly due to fewer New Zealand citizens leaving for Australia.

Last year there were also big changes in the number of visitors for travel purposes, which surpassed the 3 million mark for the first time, the Statistics NZ data showed.

There was a 7 per cent increase in overseas visitors - primarily from Australia, the Unites States and China.