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This Week in AsiaEconomics

New Zealanders seek jobs overseas in record numbers as economy stutters

  • If more New Zealanders were to stay overseas for a long time, it could lead to a demographic timebomb at home, economists warn

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Doris Lien, an Auckland-based customer experience designer who is a Christchurch native, is one of thousands of New Zealanders looking for overseas job opportunities. Photo: Doris Lien
Amy Sood
Rohan Chakrabarti, a 26-year-old civil engineer from New Zealand, kickstarted his career in Auckland, the country’s major business and financial centre. Last September, Chakrabarti joined thousands of New Zealanders who have made the exodus to Australia as job prospects at home dimmed amid the economic downturn.

Auckland has started to feel like a “ghost town”, Chakrabarti said.

“With the pay in New Zealand, it was impossible to save. Making ends meet was hard, even with working in what would conventionally be viewed as a high-paying industry,” he told This Week in Asia.

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Chakrabarti made the move to Sydney where the salary was typically higher than in Auckland for a similar role.

He was not alone. This year, people left New Zealand in record numbers, according to government figures, with at least a third moving to Australia while others left for the UK, Europe and elsewhere.
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According to provisional data released by Statistics New Zealand on Tuesday, 131,200 people left in the year ending June 2024 – the highest number on record for a single year. Of the figure, over 80,000 were citizens, nearly double the pre-pandemic levels.

“Almost all of my friends have made a move to Australia so it seems that they have the same mindset as I do,” said Chakrabarti.

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