New Zealand’s Young People Taking Flight

New Zealand has reported a net loss of migrants for the second year in a row as more residents, particularly young adults, decided to leave the country amid the rising cost of living, the Irish Independent’s Namita Singh reports.

About 7300 more people left the country in the year ending March 2022 than those choosing to build a life in New Zealand, according to figures recently released by Stats NZ.

The increase in migration was especially observed among young adults between 18 to 27 years, with about 1800 citizens belonging to this age group leaving the country. With the unemployment rate at 3.2 per cent, economists fear that the loss of workforce could contribute to labour shortage in the country, Singh writes.

“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,” Brad Oslen, Infometrics principal economist and director, told The Guardian.

Original article by Namita Singh, Irish Independent, May 18, 2022.

Photo by Yousef Alfuhigi.