New Zealand's population growth is primarily driven by immigration, there's a lot of it. Every year, 3.8% of the population are new immigrants who arrived that year. And it's going up quickly. There doesn't seem to be much of a backlash against immigration here, there's a feeling that the only way to meet the labour needs of the country is to open the doors to immigration. Unlike some countries where people who immigrants don't have rights or a path to citizenship, New Zealand grants voting rights to residents and most work visas lead to permanent residency. In fact, most people who were trapped here due to covid border closings were offered permanent residency simply because they'd gone through the pandemic in New Zealand and developed ties to the country. I also think the idea was it would keep those potential workers here at a time when borders were closed.