Cutting through the hype about returning Kiwis

There’s a lot of hype about returning Kiwis and how high net migration could get thanks to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel patterns and population movements. This article delves more deeply into the travel numbers since COVID-19 became established to separate the fact from the fiction and better understand the risks presented by current trends. We find that the number of people passing through managed isolation and quarantine facilities (MIQ) is only part of the story. Migrant arrival numbers are much lower than this headline figure, and there are further questions about how many people are staying long-term.