People are leaving New Zealand in record numbers as unemployment rises, interest rates remain high and economic growth is anaemic, government statistics show.

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.

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.

The data showed of those departing 80,174 were citizens, which was almost double the numbers seen leaving prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • @[email protected]English
    3•4 months ago

    China has a different flavor? 🤷‍♂️

    ?

    Think maybe as humans we just forgot how to build houses or something.

    There’s some legitimate issues (e.g. investors buying up housing and trying to squeeze out as much short-term profit as possible, increasing prices for raw materials), but the main issue seems to be that most governments refuse to take effective measures for whatever reason. IDK, maybe they’re just all strapped for cash after the recent pandemic.