The pattern of generally long-term immigration by Europeans remained until the late 20th century, at which point government policies began to pivot. Over the last several decades, immigration has become much more economically oriented. It is also more diverse in terms of origins, with larger shares of immigrants from Asia, and policy has come to favor temporary labor and educational migration over permanent settlement.
Both major political parties now embrace using immigration policy to maintain population growth and address labor shortages. Immigration and growing ethnic diversity since the 1990s have nonetheless been contested, including with instances of racism, often in regards to concerns about housing and the job market. New Zealand has also experienced very high net immigration since the mid-2010s, averaging ten new arrivals per 1,000 population from 2015 to 2024, which is notably higher than many major immigration destinations such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The high levels of temporary labor immigration in the 21st century have also been associated with extensive reports of workplace exploitation and abuse. Increasingly, immigration policy is contested by Māori intellectuals and leaders. They question the continued marginalization of Indigenous perspectives, given the country’s complex relationship with Indigenous people, who make up about one of every five residents.
The country’s 1.4 million immigrants accounted for 29 percent of New Zealand’s 5 million people as of 2023. The top countries of origin were England (208,400 people, or approximately 14 percent of the foreign born), China (145,400, or 10 percent), India (142,900 or 10 percent), the Philippines (99,300, or 7 percent), South Africa (95,600, or 7 percent), and Australia (86,000, or 6 percent). At the same time, an estimated 1 million New Zealand citizens live abroad as of this writing, primarily in Australia.
This country profile offers an overview of New Zealand’s migration trends, tracing transformations from the 19th to the 21st centuries and addressing key themes in contemporary immigration policy and patterns. In particular, the article highlights the reliance on temporary migration, concerns about exploitation, the relationship between emigration and immigration, refugee resettlement, and Indigenous perspectives.
Immigration has been foundational for New Zealand. Māori discovered and settled the lands they know as Aotearoa in journeys from the eastern Pacific in the 13th century. Māori are the Indigenous people of New Zealand. European contact occurred in 1642, when the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman anchored offshore, and heightened following the arrival of James Cook from Great Britain in 1769. In the following decades, mariners, missionaries, whalers, sealers, traders, and settlers would arrive in increasing numbers.
Settler Colonization and the Treaty of Waitangi
