Government statistics show People are leaving New Zealand in record numbers as unemployment rises, interest rates remain high and economic growth is anaemic
Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Tuesday showed that 131,200 people departed New Zealand in the year ended June 2024,
provisionally the highest on record for an annual period.
Around a third of these were headed to Australia.
The data showed of those departing 80,174 were citizens, which was almost double the numbers seen leaving prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While net migration, the number of those arriving minus those leaving, remains at high levels, economists also expect this to wane as the number of foreign nationals wanting to move to New Zealand falls due to the softer economy.
New Zealand’s economy is struggling after the central bank hiked cash rates 521 basis points in its most aggressive tightening since the official cash rate was introduced in 1999.
The economy annual growth of 0.2% in the first quarter, unemployment rose to 4.7% in the second quarter and inflation remains high at 3.3%.
