No place like home: What’s enticing ‘brain drain’ Kiwis back
Saturday, 11 July 2026
Kiwis Yogesh Patel and Jaime Bligh had a good life in Australia. Good jobs, good weather, big city buzz. But the lure of home proved too great.
The so-called “brain drain” has been at the forefront of discussion about New Zealand’s future in recent times. More than 62,000 citizens left New Zealand in the year leading up to March 2026, of which 40% were between 18 and 30.
In some cases, the tide is turning back. Recent data from Stats NZ shows the number of Kiwi citizens moving home has risen by 7.1%.
Palmerston North-raised Patel studied law and commerce in Wellington, where he continued to work until 2017, first as a solicitor and then in technology investing.
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At 29, six years into his working life post-university, he received an enticing career opportunity in Sydney. But he admitted the job was not the only thing pulling him across the ditch ‒ it was the warm weather and variety a bigger city offered.
It was here that he met his fiancée. Bligh grew up outside the small town of Bulls. At 25, three years after completing her bachelor of design in Wellington, she was drawn to Sydney by a sense of adventure and the prospect of more exciting projects.
After moving in 2013 her career took off, giving her opportunities to work for leading design studios and ultimately allowing her to start her own interior design practice.
But while the couple enjoyed the weather and the “energy and pulse” of the big city, there were aspects of New Zealand life they couldn’t shake.
When asked what they missed the most about New Zealand, their answer was simple. Beyond family and friends, it was “a certain ease to life here that’s hard to put your finger on until you’ve lived without it”.
Bligh had always envisioned herself coming home when she had children. In fact, with 5-year-old twins, she was surprised it had taken her so long.
For Patel, it wasn’t always so black and white.
“I always hoped I’d want to move back one day, but when I left, I didn’t know what the driver would be. It turned out to be our children. We wanted to give them the same kind of childhood we were lucky enough to have,” he said.
Patel is optimistic about New Zealand’s future, particularly the regions, which he said were going from “strength to strength”.
That’s why the couple chose to settle down in Hawke’s Bay “for the long haul”.
“We’ve moved here for the lifestyle and the schools, but also because we believe in the region’s future. It’s growing, it’s ambitious and it’s a wonderful place to raise a family,” Patel said.
“For our three kids, it’s the childhood we wanted for them: room to roam, great schools, and family close by.”
That sentiment is shared by Natalie Kim, who recently returned to Auckland after 18 years living in the United States.
At just 18, Kim ventured off on her own. She had a full-ride scholarship to Princeton University and was itching to see the world.
She later graduated from Harvard Law School and began an impressive career as a tech lawyer. But after completing everything in her “career to-do list”, coming home felt like the natural next step.
After 18 years abroad, she missed the community spirit she felt was unique to New Zealand.
“What is glamorous and exciting at 21 is very different, you want different things in life compared to when you’re in your late 30s.”
A recent visit to New Zealand set the decision in stone, but it had been a topic of conversation for years.
Like Patel and Bligh, Kim and her husband wanted to give their three children the same childhood they had been fortunate enough to experience.
She was especially looking forward to seeing them spending a lot of time at the beach and running around in the grass barefoot.
“Just having a more care-free existence. That is a very foreign concept because these kids grew up in America. They just don't do that there.
“I’m really excited for them to explore nature in a really free, safe way and for them to develop a wide range of interests without it being too intense.”
To Kim, coming home felt like a full circle moment and she was optimistic about the “tremendous opportunity” she saw in New Zealand.
“I think we sometimes tell ourselves that we are far away or that our voices don't matter, but we have so much talent and good ideas here.”
While she will miss some aspects of American life, the future she envisioned was back at home, surrounded by family.
“The joy of living in multiple places is that you can have multiple places to love.”
Not ready, just yet
For others, it’s cultural. Bethany Whitley hails from Gisborne, the homeland of her iwi, Ngāti Porou. As tangata whenua, she has always felt a deep connection to Aotearoa.
But at 22, Whitley left her public service job in Wellington in search of adventure and a change of scenery.
That search brought her to the Gold Coast, where she has lived and worked for over a year.
“I wanted to explore, see the world. I had no responsibilities there, had no strings, so it was the prime time for me to go.”
It’s a feeling many young Kiwis are familiar with.
For Whitley, the opportunities, warm weather and lifestyle were the driving factors behind her decision.
All six of Whitley’s siblings had also moved to Australia ‒ a perk that made the transition much easier.
But there are some things you can’t take with you.
“If I spend too long away from the whenua, my hauora [health] starts to get a little bit troubled … what I miss the most is the connection to the people and the land.”
Being so far from home meant she often felt disconnected from her culture.
“A lot of my heritage is based on the land, your whenua, where you’re from. Wherever you go, you’re always going to have that kind of disconnect.”
Whitley plans to continue travelling and living in other cities for the foreseeable future, but wherever she goes, there is one thing she is certain of.
“I know in my soul that I’ll go home,” she said.
“Living here, it’s been good because I’m young. I don’t have any kids, no responsibilities. But once I start to settle down, I’ll come back to New Zealand for sure.”