Kiwis continue to flee New Zealand for Australia

Friday 23 January 2026

The latest data from Stats NZ reveals that immigration into New Zealand remains historically low, with only 10,691 net migrants landing in the year to November 2025:

This level of net overseas migration is well below the decade average of 49,000 and is a fraction of the circa 130,000 peak migration recorded in 2023.

Arrivals remain around their 10-year averages at 132,600, but departures remain significantly higher (121,000) than the 10-year average (88,000).

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.