High costs, loneliness, and discrimination—Indian expat shares ‘harsh realities’ of life in New Zealand

New Zealand is often seen as a dream destination, but a viral Reddit post has sparked a heated debate about the challenges of living there.

An Indian man who grew up in New Zealand and later moved back to India shared his experiences, warning fellow Indians about the reality of settling in the country, News 18 reported.

In his post, he called New Zealand an “extremely dull country” where “you’re just not connected to the rest of the world.” He described how “the biggest shopping malls all close at 7 pm. Most shops close at 5-6 pm. You walk through the city centre after 8.30 pm, and there’s hardly anyone out and about. Barely any cars at night.”

The man also slammed the high cost of living, particularly transportation. “You take a bus/taxi from one city to another, and that’s the majority of your disposable income for the week gone. So people all just end up staying home and doing nothing after work.”

Healthcare was another major concern he raised. He revealed that getting medical treatment in New Zealand is both expensive and time-consuming.

“My friend had to see a cardiologist as she had some chest pain, and it cost her around ₹1 lakh.”

He also recalled how his father had to wait six months for kidney stone surgery.

Beyond that, he claimed that Indians in New Zealand face discrimination and struggle to make social connections. “Indians unfortunately have a negative reputation in NZ. You can go to any NZ subreddit and search for ‘Indian’ and see what sort of comments show up. It’s hard to make friends here,” he wrote.

While he acknowledged that New Zealand offers a high minimum wage and social security benefits, he ultimately felt they weren’t worth “the negatives of living in NZ.”

His post has since gone viral, with many calling his insights “eye-opening” and sparking discussions about the realities of life in the country.