Thousands of New Zealanders moving overseas

0:00Monday 2nd of March 2026, thousands of New Zealanders moving overseas. Last year, it was often noted in the news that thousands of New Zealanders were leaving to live in other countries, particularly Australia. Now, the latest data from StatsnZ confirms that the number of people who left New Zealand in 2025 was higher than in 2024. When people move to another country to live for more than 12 months, they are called migrants. According to StatsnZ in 2025, there were 119,800 migrant departures from New Zealand. It is people who left New Zealand to live elsewhere for more than a year.

1:04This compares with 118,520 in 2024. One reason for the high number of New Zealanders leaving is unemployment. It has been rising steadily because businesses have either reduced staff numbers or stopped hiring because of the weak economy. There are now 165,000 people unemployed in New Zealand. The unemployment rate is 5.4%, which is the highest level since March 2015. In addition, wage growth is only 2%, but in inflation is 3.1%, so prices are increasing more than wages.

2:06Employers makes it difficult for people to afford mortgages or rent, electricity, food and other basic needs. Consequently, thousands of New Zealanders have decided to move, particularly to Australia, where there are often more job opportunities and higher wages. According to estimates from StatsnZ between July 2024 and June 2025, 61% of New Zealand citizens who departed went to Australia. In contrast, there were 134,000 migrant arrivals, that is, people who came to live in New Zealand compared with 142,320 in 2024.

3:13Around 26,000 were New Zealanders returning home. The arrivals also included approximately 17,000 Indian citizens, 15,000 Chinese and 10,000 for Lupino. About 4,800 came from the United Kingdom and 4,700 from Australia. The difference between migrant arrivals and departures is called the Net Migration Gain. In 2025, it was only 14,200, whereas in 2024, it was 23,800.