University of Otago lifestyles study: 48% say getting ahead means leaving New Zealand

The University of Otago's 2025/26 New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles Study found 48% of respondents believe they need to leave New Zealand to get ahead, up from 28% in 2020, The Kākā and RNZ reported.

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Bernard Hickey's newsletter The Kākā reported that 48% of respondents to a University of Otago survey felt they needed to leave New Zealand to get ahead, up from 28% in 2020. RNZ reported the same figures from the study.

The 2025/26 New Zealand Consumer Lifestyles Study is the eighth in a series dating back to 1979, run by the Department of Marketing at Otago Business School. According to the university, it surveyed 1,096 New Zealand adults on approximately 360 questions.

The study identified six consumer groups: Aspirational Materialists (11 per cent), Financial Strugglers (27 per cent), Contented Traditionalists (13 per cent), Ethical Pragmatists (16 per cent), Contemporary Mainstream (23 per cent) and Disengaged Drifters (10 per cent), the university said. Financial Strugglers compare with 16.5 per cent for the comparable segment in 2020.

The university also reported that 40 per cent of respondents said they were struggling to pay for essentials, and that newspaper readership fell from 45 per cent in 2020 to 30 per cent in 2025.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Leah Watkins said: "The 2025/26 results reveal a New Zealand consumer who is considerably more cautious about money and the economic outlook than five years ago."