Earthquake rebuild draws more skilled migrants to NZ

New Zealand is seeing an upsurge in skilled migrants due to its relatively healthy economy and the rebuild of the earthquake-battered Canterbury region, according to a report out Thursday.

Skilled migrants accounted for 44 percent of the 19,668 migrants granted residency from July to December last year, said the report from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The 8,716 skill migrants approved for residents in that period was up 6 percent year on year.

The top source countries of skilled migrants in that period were India, which accounted for 21 percent, the Philippines (13 percent), Britain (12 percent) and China (12 percent).

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the figures reflected country's strong economic outlook.

"The figures suggest that New Zealand's economic outlook is strong with the Canterbury rebuild bolstering the underlying recovery," Woodhouse said in a statement.

He also welcomed a 15-percent rise in the number of international students studying in New Zealand last year as a big boost for the education industry.

"In 2014, international education contributed 2.85 billion NZ dollars (2.08 billion U.S. dollars) to the New Zealand economy. It is our fifth largest export industry and supports more than 30,000 jobs."