New Zealand saw 162,100 visitors in June, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday - up 2,600 from a year earlier and surpassing the previous June high of 159,500 in 2013.
"Visitor arrivals are the highest ever for a June month," population statistics manager Vina Cullum said. "Growth was driven by visitors from Asia, especially Japan and China."
The biggest changes in arrivals were from Japan (up 1,200) and China (up 900).
In the year to June, visitor arrivals numbered 2.79 million, up 6 percent on year. New Zealand's top four sources of visitors were Australia, China, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Overseas trips by New Zealand residents totaled 206,500 - up 7,700 or 4 percent from June 2013.
Net migration was up a seasonally adjusted 4,270 in June after adding 4,020 in the previous month. Net migration has been positive and mostly increasing since September 2012, the bureau said.
In the year to June, migrant arrivals numbered 100,800 (up 14 percent on year), the first time more than 100,000 arrivals were recorded in a year. Migrant departures numbered 62,400 (down 22 percent). This resulted in a net gain of 38,300 migrants, the highest annual gain since the October 2003 year (39,300).
In the latest year, New Zealand had a net loss of 8,300 migrants to Australia, well down from 31,200 a year earlier. Net gains were recorded from most other countries, led by India (7,000), China (6,300), and the United Kingdom (5,500).
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