New Zealanders are migrating to Australia in record numbers, prompting questions over whether migrants are using the country as a backdoor to Australia. 

More than 92,000 New Zealand citizens applied for Australian citizenship between July 2023 and June 2025, according to data from the Department of Home Affairs. 

Of those, 48 per cent were born outside New Zealand.  

In 2024 alone, 30,000 New Zealanders moved to Australia – the highest number in more than a decade.

Of those, about 35 per cent were born outside of New Zealand. 

New Zealand is in the grips of a ‘brain drain’, with many fearing its young workers are heading to Australia in search of better economic opportunities.  

Many expats cite New Zealand’s ongoing economic recession and rising unemployment as the main drivers behind their decision to cross the Tasman. 

While living costs are comparable between the two countries, average pay is about 26 per cent higher in Australia – roughly one-third higher GDP per person. 

Young New Zealanders are flocking to Australia for better economic opportunities 

Nearly half of New Zealand citizens applying for Australian citizenship were born elsewhere (pictured, the Sydney Opera House)

The gulf has widened in recent years, with New Zealand experiencing six consecutive months of negative growth.

Historical data indicates emigration from New Zealand to Australia tends to increase in periods of economic turmoil – including a post-GFC spike. 

While many flocked home to avoid Covid-related border closures, recent years of high emigration correlate with a smoother economic recovery in Australia. 

New Zealand citizens can travel to and from Australia freely and live Down Under indefinitely with a Special Category Visa (SCV). 

The SCV is considered ‘demand driven’ and as such the Australian government does not cap the number it makes available. Nearly all New Zealand citizens are eligible for SCVs on arrival, subject to certain character requirements. 

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon believes securing the country’s status as a settler nation requires building a new economic ‘proposition’ for young Kiwis. 

‘In recessionary times, people will go overseas where they have better opportunities,’ he told the New Zealand Herald in May. 

Productivity and healthcare are central to that proposition, Luxon said. 

As pointed out in a recent article for The Economist, a number of former prime ministers have failed in their economic ambitions for New Zealand. 

In 2009, then-PM John Key set out to ‘match Australia by 2025’. Many in Wellington, it said, now joke the more realistic ambition may be to ‘beat Fiji by 2050’.