Young New Zealanders are fleeing in droves as borders reopen and domestic economic circumstances deteriorate.

According to the most recent Stats NZ statistics, yearly net migration was negative in the year to March, with 7,300 more individuals departing than coming. That loss represents a significant shift from early in the epidemic when border controls and the relative safety of Covid-free New Zealand kept many people from fleeing. There was a record net gain of 91,700 in the fiscal year ending March 2020.

Many New Zealanders, particularly young professionals and graduates, are now relocating overseas. Some are motivated by New Zealand’s difficult economic conditions, which include 6.9 percent inflation, unaffordability of property, and sky-high living costs: petrol, rentals, mortgage interest rates, and groceries are all on the increase.

Brad Olsen, the Infometrics principal economist, and director stated the new figures “demonstrate just how momentous really the shift has been in New Zealand’s migration outcomes”, changing to a net loss from 50,000-60,000 annual net gains in the years leading up to the pandemic. “It’s a huge reversal – and the first time we’ve seen those negative figures since the global financial crisis, the Christchurch earthquakes, and the Australian mining boom all combined in the early 2010s.”

The losses, according to Stats NZ, the government’s data and statistics department, were driven by young adults, with a significant surge in New Zealand residents aged 18 to 27 departing. With unemployment currently at 3.2 percent, experts believe that the loss of more workers due to migration might result in persistent labour shortages.

“The difficulty finding workers is extreme around the country – you have a smaller working age population than the year before, at a time when everyone is desperately calling out for workers. [It] really just exacerbates the pressures that businesses are under,” Olsen said.

]In April, official records anticipated that 50,000 individuals would depart over the next year – but that this figure may rise to 125,000 if the many young people who had delayed post-graduation vacations due to the virus also left.

When asked about the predicted losses, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stated that international journeys were “part of our past” and a rite of passage for many New Zealanders, noting that she had lived in London for a while. “It has been part of our history as a nation to frequently have New Zealanders come and go as part of our overseas experience, building skills and talent.”