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Australia or New Zealand? What returning Kiwis can tell UK workers about choosing between them

News · 2026-08-22 · 4 min read

If you are in the UK and torn between Australia and New Zealand, you are weighing up the same things many New Zealanders weigh every year. For a long time their answer was simple: tradespeople and professionals headed across the Tasman for bigger pay packets and warmer winters. That pattern is shifting, and the reasons are useful for anyone making the choice from further afield.

More Kiwis are coming home

The number of New Zealanders leaving for Australia has barely moved. What has changed is how many are returning: returnee numbers are up 14% on a year earlier. For a country that has worried about brain drain for decades, that is a notable turnaround.

The money behind the move

People rarely move country on sentiment alone. Mortgage rates, job adverts and the weekly shop matter far more, and at the moment several of those point towards New Zealand.

The rate gap matters if you plan to buy a home. Lower borrowing costs can make a big difference to monthly outgoings, even when wages are lower.

Job adverts are picking up again

Rates are only part of it. New Zealand's jobs market has been recovering from a real slump. Online job adverts have now grown for three quarters in a row, after almost three years of steady decline, and the improvement is spread across every region and industry. That suggests real jobs to come back to, not just a better exchange rate. Economists also expect the two countries' unemployment rates to move closer together by the end of the decade.

Why the gap may not last

Anyone timing a move should know that New Zealand's rate advantage looks temporary. Several major bank economists expect the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to start raising rates later this year, possibly taking the cash rate towards 3.25% by early 2027. If that happens, the pull towards New Zealand would weaken.

There is also a fact that no migration figure changes: tradespeople in Australia still earn more per hour than those in New Zealand. As one returnee put it, wages are only half the sum. The cost of living across the Tasman can quietly eat into that extra pay.

Housing has not caught up yet

New Zealand's property market has not responded to the return flow. The national median house price is $775,000, sales volumes are behind last year and prices are slightly down over both the year and the last quarter. If more people keep coming back, the first signs are likely to show in rental demand and mortgage pre-approval enquiries rather than in prices.

How to use this if you are deciding from the UK

• Compare take-home pay with living costs, not headline wages alone. Higher hourly rates in Australia may be offset by higher costs.
• Check borrowing costs if you plan to buy, and remember that rates in both countries can change.
• Look at where job adverts are growing. New Zealand's recovery covers every region and industry, which widens your options.
• Read up on the visa routes for both countries on the official New Zealand visas pages before you narrow your search.

Our pieces on New Zealand's latest jobs data and New Zealand's infrastructure pipeline and its staffing gap go further. You can also browse jobs in New Zealand and Australia side by side.

The New Zealanders weighing a return are not chasing a short dip in rates. Many are making a longer-term judgement about where their career and lifestyle are better supported, and that is a useful way to frame your own choice too.

#new zealand #australia #cost of living #interest rates #jobs market #work in new zealand