The unprecedented migration surge since mid-2022 has seen a net 110,000 working-age people added to the population during the last 12 months. This outcome is a flow-on effect from the labour market disruption caused by the borders being shut during COVID-19. Businesses have needed to... Read

Migration has become a hot topic over the last year, with a record high net migration gain. This large inflow of people into New Zealand has seen the population increase by 145,000 people once births and deaths are accounted for – slightly more than adding an additional Dunedin over the last year. Read

The New Zealand economy has entered the new year with questions about whether the worst of the post-Covid hangover is behind us, or whether there’s more of a slowdown to come in 2024. We have collected our thoughts on three issues that will play a key role in determining New Zealand’s economic performance this year. Read

Data for October could show migration edging up to another record high, surpassing September’s result of nearly 119,000 people net coming into the country over the last year. But with this flood of arrivals adding to demand pressures across the economy, provincial areas could bear the brunt of the policy response. Read

This article explores recent patterns in domestic or internal migration between 2021 and 2022 using a new dataset from Stats NZ, exploring potential factors that shape the flow of Kiwis throughout the country. Read

Three years after COVID-19 emerged, New Zealand is grappling with economic imbalances that have been amplified by the pandemic, our response, and its aftermath. The gap between our exports and imports has not been worse in almost 50 years, the only way to grow the economy seems to be by opening the migration tap, and housing affordability remains as critical as ever. We must strive for better, more sustainable, ways to increase productivity and grow the economy – and soon. Read

The recent announcement by the Australian government of the return to a simpler citizenship pathway for Kiwis has been met with concerns over a further loss of talent across the ditch. Infometrics analysis of migration data between New Zealand and Australia shows that New Zealand is already seeing a... Read

Net migration continues to confound, with a rapid series of twists and turns in trend. The latest official data shows that at the end of January 2023, annual net migration had surged back to over +33,100, compared with a net outflow that got as big as -19,700 in the year to February 2022. Read

Throughout 2021 and most of 2022, New Zealand experienced a net brain drain as migrant departures returned to normal but migrant arrivals were slower to recover. However, recent migration estimates show a rapid turnaround in net migration, with strong migrant inflows flipping the brain drain to a brain gain. Over the year to November 2022, 5,700 more people are estimated to have arrived in New Zealand than left. Read

Since New Zealand’s borders fully reopened in July last year, net migration has turned strongly positive. The net inflow of people in the three months to October 2022 was 8,558 people, representing the biggest net inflow since early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Read