Kiwi brain drain: New Zealand's towns are depopulating at noticeable rates
- Admin
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By James C. Pearce
New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is planning a big move. Like so many of her fellow Kiwis, she is moving to neighboring Australia.
Locals spotted her and her husband house hunting in an affluent suburb of northern Sydney, near its glorious beaches. Her move has renewed international interest in what has become known as the Kiwi brain drain.
Around 70,000 Kiwis left New Zealand in 2025, averaging about 200 people per day. Seven of its 16 regions had more people leave than arrive last year. In a country of 5 million, that is a lot.
What’s more, it is becoming a particular sore spot for the government in an election year.
Why Kiwis are leaving for pastures new is both puzzling and expected.
New Zealand is one of the safest countries in the world. They have a high life expectancy, decent health care and stunning natural wonders. But New Zealand is suffering from a sagging economy. Unemployment is high (above 5 percent) and, like much of the Western world, it is suffering from a cost-of-living crisis.
Grocery prices in New Zealand are among the highest in the developed world. House prices are also skyrocketing and getting worse, with people leaving. It is an unholy yet familiar alliance difficult for any country to overcome.
New Zealand’s brain drain is felt most acutely in the countryside. Thousands of local business closures are pushing locals away, as is lower-quality education and healthcare. Towns and villages are depopulating at noticeable rates.
The inequality gap between urban and rural settlements is only getting larger. Most Kiwis tend to stay within the anglosphere. Around 60 percent are going to neighboring Australia, and the rest to the U.K., U.S. and Europe.
Their Australian neighbors have very relaxed work and visa laws for Kiwis. Salaries are much higher and house prices are lower.
GDP per capita in Australia is about $64,400, while in New Zealand it is about $48,000, according to World Bank data. Australia is perfectly happy to have its neighbors.
New Zealanders are net contributors, paying more in taxes than they consume. They work in just about every sector of the economy as well, making Kiwis a flexible source of labor.
To be sure, many who are leaving New Zealand are young. Most do return eventually and the current outflow is partially offset by those returners (and immigration from the Pacific islands).
New Zealand’s population is also growing, due to higher birth rates. Whether this new cohort of emigrants returns is still an open question and some are nervous.
Yet, new research from Koi Tū Center for Informed Futures also suggests that the emigration numbers are not as bad as they appear. Their paper argues that gaps in the data and too-simplistic analysis could be limiting New Zealanders' understanding of migration trends.
New Zealanders will go to the polls later this year and the government is at a loss on the issue. The demographics of those leaving do not paint a particularly clear picture. It is not necessarily the most skilled and educated leaving.
But neither is New Zealand keeping a record of what skills it is losing and which are needed. Some note a lack of economic strategy.
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Almost 70 percent of New Zealand’s GDP comes from the service industries. Finance, real estate, and technical services are the largest, which are not great to rely on during an economic downturn.
Manufacturing accounts for around 8 percent but many regional factories are closing and redundancies are high.
Agricultural and dairy products are the largest single export. There is a growing demand for seasonal work, but that tends to be sucked up by migrants from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga or one of New Zealand’s associate islands.
Many send remittances home, unlike New Zealanders, who prefer to enjoy spending their high Australian salaries. As migration continues to shape the Pacific, leaders and communities are asking how long the region can support the current system.
New Zealand hopes it will not be on the wrong end of the Pacific's migration problem. But as long as Australia remains richer and cheaper, Kiwis will – ironically – keep flying away.
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