Schlepping In and Out: NZ Migration Unfiltered

Day by day, Customs clocks every comer and goer, sending Stats NZ a live list of border crossers. Our number nerds then mix and match a year’s worth of these logs, factoring in any foot-dragging filers, to serve up a preliminary plate of migration numbers—with a dash of doubt, that’s the ±. When every last lingerer is logged, they lock in the official tally. Bottom line: Stats NZ counts real people on the move—no fluff, just facts.

In migration lingo, a “migrant arrival” is someone planting roots for 12+ months (and a departure is a resident off for a year or more), and net migration is arrivals minus departures. Stats NZ classifies migrants (and their origin/destination) using a 12-month threshold, following international guidelines. A net positive result means, for better or worse, the population is increasing.

What’s the latest from Stats NZ? The post-pandemic party’s over. For the year to May 2025, Kiwi borders welcomed 139,400 new faces—that’s a 26% shrink from last year’s shindig. Meanwhile, 124,500 said sayonara, up 14% from the previous period. Net result? A modest +14,800 more mouths to feed, a far cry from 2023’s whopping +128,300 bonanza.

Stats NZ points out that 2024’s net gain of around +27,100 was just a tad below the pre-COVID norm of +29,100 annually. So, 2023 was indeed a mad meshuggeh moment, and now we’re back to business as usual—more or less.

Who’s who in the zoo of migrants? Surprise, surprise—it’s us! 24,900 Kiwis came home to roost in the year to May 2025. Hot on their heels: 21,700 Indians, 16,600 Chinese, with Filipinos, Sri Lankans, Brits, and even some Aussies joining the party. But don’t get too comfortable—71,200 Kiwis took off for pastures new, leading the exodus, followed by Chinese, Indians, Brits, Aussies, Yanks, and Filipinos.

Here’s the breakdown, straight from Stats NZ’s kitchen:

Now, let’s talk turkey about our trans-Tasman tango with Australia. For years, more Kiwis have been hopping over to Oz than vice versa. In 2024, while 17,300 Aussies ambled over to New Zealand, a staggering 47,300 Kiwis headed the other way—that’s a net loss of 30,000 to our neighbours. Oi, oy gevalt, that’s the heftiest haemorrhage since 2012 (though not quite as bad as the 43,700 who left in that record year).

Stats NZ reminds us this isn’t breaking news: between 2004 and 2013, we were losing around 30,000 a year to Australia, and from 2014 to 2019, the bleeding slowed to about 3,000 annually. So, while the drain to Down Under stings, it’s softened by the broader migration picture.

So, what’s the takeaway? These migration numbers aren’t just digits—they’re real people packing their bags or unpacking them in NZ. Thanks to Stats NZ’s no-nonsense counting, we know exactly who’s coming and going. After the 2023 boom, things have settled down to a more manageable pace—we’re still gaining, just not at that breakneck speed. Net migration swung up by about 100,000 in 2023 and down by a similar amount in 2024, but it’s still in the black.