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Myth Busters >
There are at least 1,000,000 New Zealanders living overseas
New Zealanders, referred to locally as Kiwis, love to travel. As a small island nation at the end of the world, we have a national curiosity that is only sated by serious air miles. People say that wherever you go in the world, a Kiwi will be there already. But, how many New Zealanders actually live overseas? A figure that has been quoted in the media is one million New Zealanders. How accurate is this estimate of New Zealand's 'diaspora'?
It is a difficult exercise counting the number of people in New Zealand, let alone finding all the Kiwis in the rest of the world! Luckily, demographers are a tenacious lot, and estimating the number of overseas-resident New Zealanders is an ongoing focus of research.
Australia is, by far, our most popular destination country, so how many Kiwis live there? The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates 477,000 New Zealand-born people were living in Australia at 30 June 2006.
Our second most popular destination is the United Kingdom, where, at the most recent census in 2001, 58,000 New Zealand-born residents were counted. The next largest group lives in the United States, where there are estimated to be around 23,000 Kiwis(1) , while 9,500 live in Canada. An additional 40,500 Kiwis are estimated to live in other countries. So... all together, this adds up to around 600,000, well under the quoted diaspora of one million.
However, as we are mainly relying on census counts, some now several years years old, how accurate is this estimate? There is also the difficulty in defining our diaspora. Are the children and spouses of New Zealand-born included, for example? So, with these questions in mind, it can only be concluded that...
This myth needs further research.
How did this myth arise?
Stories about the number of New Zealanders who migrate overseas, and the resulting loss of NZ citizens, are common in the media, and are a cause for consternation in many circles. If you add to this anecdotal evidence about the number of Kiwis living in Australia and the United Kingdom, the impression that there must be a million or more Kiwis living overseas is understandable.
On any given day, there are roughly 80,000 New Zealand citizens out of the country on short overseas trips. Around 45,000 citizens a year leave on a permanent or long-term (PLT) basis. Many of these PLT travellers will eventually return, some bringing their overseas-born spouses and children with them. Others will stay overseas, with various degrees of attachment to New Zealand. Of our newer migrants, some will stay and gain New Zealand citizenship, while others will leave.
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