New Zealand suffered a net loss of migration to Australia of 27,000 people in 2023, the highest level in a decade.
More than 44,500 New Zealanders tried to escape the economic crisis after the pandemic, compared to 17,500 Australians who went the other way.
While the number of Australians travelling to New Zealand has remained broadly stable since 2021, the number of New Zealanders in departure lounges is increasing.
Not since 2013 have so many New Zealanders chosen to move to Australia.
Over the past few decades, New Zealand has experienced an annual loss of citizens to Australia.
An exception to this was the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when border controls resulted in a net increase in migration with Australia.
This gain was attributed to the return home during COVID and the favorable living and economic conditions in New Zealand during the pandemic.
However, the return to normal border conditions and a declining economy have driven New Zealanders towards the exit.
Last year, 5,000 New Zealand-based nurses registered to work in Australia for a six-month period, while fewer than 200 Australian nurses migrated the other way
Of the net trans-Tasman migration increase of 7,500 in 2020, New Zealand lost 5,500 citizens in 2021, 14,500 in 2022 and now 17,500 in 2023.
New Zealanders can live and work in Australia, and vice versa, thanks to specially designed visas.
Recent policy changes in Australia have made the offer more attractive to potential Kiwi migrants.
In 2023, Australia improved the pathway to citizenship for migrating New Zealanders, allowing them to apply after four years of residence.
Citizenship brings a host of benefits, including a social safety net, access to student loans and access to a range of public service and defence roles reserved only for Australians.
Australian employers looking to hire in key sectors such as policing and nursing have also invested in campaigns to attract workers, such as offering hiring bonuses and relocation expenses.
Higher wages offered in Australia are cited as a reason for New Zealand’s nursing shortage
The departure of many New Zealanders to Tasmania has not caused the population to decline, however, as domestic migration is also increasing.
Since the beginning of 2023, the country has welcomed more than 10,000 migrants per month, a record number.
Migrants from India rank first, with 51,000 arriving in 2023, followed by many migrants from the Philippines (36,000), China (26,900) and Fiji (11,100).
New Zealanders leaving for Australia in 2023 will be slightly younger and more likely to be born overseas than the rest of the population.
More than a third (36 percent) of trans-Tasman migrants are overseas-born (27 percent of the general population), with more than half of the population aged between 20 and 39.
The record for brain drain in a single calendar year was 2011, when a net 43,000 people left: more than one percent of the population.
Why a hardworking Kiwi couple decided to leave New Zealand to live in Australia
New Zealand couple Tim and Eva Mitchell are on a year-long world trip. According to the adventurous New Zealand couple, the only way to achieve this was to leave their home country and live in Australia.
In 2019, the duo followed the path of thousands of New Zealanders across the Tasman in search of higher wages and greater career opportunities.
After living in Melbourne for just 16 months, where Eva, 28, worked as an IVF pharmacist and Tim, 33, worked for the same engineering company he worked for in New Zealand, the couple had saved enough to travel overseas for a year.
“If we had stayed in New Zealand we probably wouldn’t have been able to travel – we wouldn’t have been able to save enough,” Eva told Daily Mail Australia from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
‘Everyone in the world is struggling, but I think New Zealand is lagging behind.’
New Zealand couple Eva and Tim Mitchell (pictured in Melbourne) said moving to Australia was ‘the best thing that ever happened to them’
Better money for Kiwis moving to Australia
She said that by moving to Australia, the couple earned 30 percent more than they did at home, and found that it gave them many other financial benefits, such as tax deductions for work-related expenses, which simply did not exist in New Zealand.
In their Earn money with travel blog Eva writes that the couple ‘knew that moving to Australia would mean we could save more money AND save money faster than if we stayed in New Zealand, just by finding better paying jobs’.
“What we didn’t realise was that living in Australia could help us achieve our savings goals in so many other ways, starting with paying less income tax,” she writes.
‘An average Australian full-time salary of $95,000 will cost you approximately $21,300 in income tax per year.
‘In New Zealand, for the same salary (if you can find a job that pays the same) you would pay around $23,200 in income tax per year.’
But that wasn’t even the best part.
“In Australia you are entitled to tax refunds on various work-related expenses,” she said.
This includes professional fees, home office costs, tools, conference costs, work clothing and much more.
‘We eventually found out that Australia not only pays better, but you also get to keep more of your salary.’
Eva remembers that when the couple moved to Australia, ‘everyone said they had to make sure they claimed their taxes back’.
“As far as we knew, we could never reclaim the same costs in New Zealand, not in a normal job, but maybe if you had a business,” she said.
‘The grass is definitely greener!’
More career opportunities
Both Eva and Tim had career opportunities in Australia that they would not have had in New Zealand.
Eva went from being a pharmacist in a public hospital in Christchurch to working at a private IVF clinic to working in a private pharmacy, which she said didn’t exist in New Zealand.
The adventurous Kiwi couple have been travelling the world for a year (pictured in Cappadocia, Turkey)
“My new job brought a pay rise, bonuses, and a small team where I felt valued,” she wrote in the blog.
Even if she had returned to the public pharmacy sector, the pay increase in Australia would have been significant.
Despite working for the same company, Tim also received ‘a significant pay increase when transferred to Australia’, whereas in New Zealand it had taken ‘years’ to get that increase.
‘Shortly after moving to Australia, Tim was able to secure a more senior position, which is a testament to the career opportunities Australian companies can offer New Zealand professionals looking to relocate to Australia,’ Eva wrote.
‘On top of a pay rise, Tim’s transfer deal provided us both with flights to Melbourne and a month’s free accommodation in a Melbourne CBD apartment until we could secure our own rental property. Not a bad deal if I may say so myself!’
Better work-life balance
As if getting paid more wasn’t enough, Tim and Eva discovered that Australians work fewer hours than New Zealanders and that supermarkets are cheaper.
“The standard working week in New Zealand is 40 hours (as opposed to 38 hours in Australia), so over a year that’s about 100 hours difference,” Eva says.
‘Two hours a week may not seem like much, but it is. We also find it convenient, because you still have time to stop by the bank when it is open.’
She also said Victoria offers “seasonal discounts on dining out, activities and electricity bills for all residents.”
“Thanks to these cashback schemes, we received hundreds of dollars back during our time in Melbourne,” she writes.
Eva and Tim also enjoyed living in Melbourne, which has about four times the population of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.
The couple said that once they have completed their travels through Europe and Asia, they will return to Australia
“If we want to go to a city that comes close to the size of Melbourne, Auckland is the only option, but of course it is quite expensive to stay there,” Eva said.
‘It’s probably comparable to Melbourne, but in Melbourne you get a better wage.
“You just don’t get the same opportunities. There’s always something to do in Melbourne – there’s always events.”
After spending 10 months in Europe, the couple plan to spend another two months in Southeast Asia before heading home, which is no longer New Zealand.
“I can’t imagine going back to New Zealand,” Eva said.
“Salary is a big issue. If we could get the same salary, maybe we would go back, but we still miss city life.”
Eva said that she and Tim had some regrets.
“We feel guilty about leaving, we miss the festivities at home, so we feel guilty about missing that,” she said.
Eva said they wouldn’t have done that.would have abandoned their country if they could have provided for us.
“Australia has given us opportunities that we wouldn’t have had in New Zealand,” she said.
“People can call us unpatriotic, but we just have to do what’s best for us.”