A record number of people have left New Zealand in a year

A record number of people left New Zealand in 12 months. This was reported by Reuters in a January 22 story.

"Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Thursday showed 127,800 people left the country in the 12 months through November, up 28 percent from the previous 12-month period," the agency writes.

It could be the largest annual departure from the country, the statistics office said. More than half of those who left were New Zealand citizens. The publication notes that this could be another sign of weakness in the country's economy, which went into a technical recession in the third quarter of 2024.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon also links such an exodus to the economic problems in the state.

"It's about job opportunities, especially here [in New Zealand] compared to Australia. There are more opportunities there now, so we're seeing quite a high outflow of New Zealanders," he revealed.

Late last year, an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 was recorded off the coast of New Zealand. The epicenter was located at a distance of 537 km from the town of Hicks Bay with a population of 1.3 thousand people. There was no information about damages and victims.

On November 27 last year the Ambassador of China said that the country would face negative consequences if it joins AUKUS. In his remarks, he said he hoped New Zealand would "take into account its own long-term interests, potential regional security implications and the impact on China-New Zealand relations" when deciding whether to join the grouping.