{"id":298969,"date":"2026-02-24T01:41:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/298969\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T01:41:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:41:11","slug":"high-numbers-of-kiwis-have-left-the-country-long-term-under-both-national-and-labour-governments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/298969\/","title":{"rendered":"High numbers of Kiwis have left the country long-term under both National and Labour governments"},"content":{"rendered":"

Immigration is once again shaping up as a hot political issue leading up to November\u2019s General Election, but a twist this time around is that emigration – the number of people leaving the country long-term – is likely to be just as big an issue as immigration – the number of people arriving.<\/p>\n

The issue of high levels of emigration was most recently raised by Labour leader Chris Hipkins in his State of the Nation speech<\/a> on February 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery week, another 2000 New Zealanders leave the country because they can\u2019t see a future here,\u201d Hipkins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly 240,000 people have left the country in the last two years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

What Hipkins didn\u2019t say is that the current great exodus of people leaving New Zealand long-term actually began under the last Labour Government, and really built up a full head of steam in 2023, during Labour\u2019s final year when Hipkins himself was Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

According to Statistics NZ, the number of people leaving long-term increased steadily under the last Labour Government, rising from 54,600 in 2020, to 70,409 in 2021, 94,540 in 2022 and 101,932 in 2023.<\/p>\n

That trend continued under the current National-led government, with long-term departures rising to 118,525 in 2024 and 119,814 in 2025.<\/p>\n

The most concerning component* of that exodus is the number of New Zealand citizens leaving the country long-term. This also increased steadily under the last Labour government, rising from 15,334 in 2020, to 65,792 in 2023.<\/p>\n

It then increased slightly under the current national-led Government to 67,221 in 2024 before dropping back slightly to 66,309 in 2025.<\/p>\n

Looking back a bit further (the Stats NZ figures go back to 2001), neither Labour nor National have exactly covered themselves in glory when it comes to outflows of New Zealand citizens.<\/p>\n

The peak outflow since 2001 occurred under John Key\u2019s National Government in 2011 when 71,187 NZ citizens left the country long-term, with another 70,697 following them out the door in 2012.<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s record isn\u2019t much better, with 65,288 NZ citizens departing under Helen Clark\u2019s Labour-led coalition in 2007 and another 68,131 leaving in 2008.<\/p>\n

So, although the departure of high numbers New Zealanders for supposedly more attractive opportunities overseas remains a concern, it is hardly a new phenomenon, and it\u2019s one that would be difficult for both Labour and National to claim the high moral ground on with any credibility, based on their respective track records.<\/p>\n

*Total departures: The figures quoted by Hipkins in his speech, are made up of both NZ citizens and non-NZ citizens – such as those who have been living in this country on residence or work visas or Australian citizens.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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