People are leaving New Zealand in record numbers as unemployment rises, interest rates remain high and economic growth is anaemic, government statistics show.
Data released by Statistics New Zealand on Tuesday showed that 131,200 people departed New Zealand in the year ended June 2024, provisionally the highest on record for an annual period. Around a third of these were headed to Australia.
While net migration, the number of those arriving minus those leaving, remains at high levels, economists also expect this to wane as the number of foreign nationals wanting to move to New Zealand falls due to the softer economy.
The data showed of those departing 80,174 were citizens, which was almost double the numbers seen leaving prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was so weird as an American to find out that country music is huge in Australia.
It reminds me of how Mexican music was (and maybe still is) really popular in the Balkans because they were so closed off from most of the world when they were united as Yugoslavia.
Why do you find it surprising that we like country music in Australia?
Because it’s a very American form of music. In fact, a lot of it involves a bunch of jingoistic patriotic bullshit.
You should look into Australian country music, it’s different from American. American country music is still popular here but we’ve had a rich history of country music that is our own unique style.
Can I also recommend Australian folk? Astral Yeehaw - Working, Drunk or Hungover
Absolutely you can, good recommendation.
Astral Yeehaw, what a fucking band name, that’s legendary