Over the past decade I’ve moved from Washington to Cairo to London to New York. Some of these are great places to live. But occasionally I would look at the globe and think about other potential landing spots. From afar, New Zealand always seemed like an ideal destination. Beautiful nature, friendly people, relatively sane politics. And if you’re a fan of Tolkien, you can visit the film home of Bilbo Baggins.

But New Zealanders are leaving their country in record numbers. Almost 129,000 residents emigrated last year—40% above the pre-pandemic average for this century. Holy Shire, what’s going on?! Our report looks at why Kiwis are moving out, where they are going and how their government may struggle to reverse the trend. If you’ve ever thought about moving to New Zealand, now is a good time in some ways.