Shadowing Practice: NZ vs Australia: Where Is It Cheaper to Live in 2025? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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More people are leaving New Zealand than ever before.

The record number of New Zealanders are leaving the country.

The major reason is Australia.

Australians earn more and spend less.

That's what the New Zealand media is always telling us.

In this video, I'm going to test the theory by comparing the incomes and costs of both countries.

Over half a million Kiwis now live in Australia, and according to the latest statistics, this is increasing by roughly 30,000 a year.

So I thought it'd be a great opportunity to test the theory of whether Australia is better.

I was in Sydney just last month, so I have the latest numbers to test the theory of whether Australia is better.

In the Australian corner, we have Sydney, and in New Zealand, Auckland.

So let's first compare incomes.

Data across both countries is a bit spotty, so we'll take the national averages.

Over in Australia, their statistics department states the average full-time worker earns $2,047 a week.

In New Zealand, the stats department similarly states a full-time worker earns just $1,651 a week.

Accounting for the exchange rate, New Zealand's average wage falls to just $1,509 a week, lower than Australia by 26%.

Both data points are from governmental statistics sources, are averages, include just full-time workers and include all ordinary and overtime income data.

Averages might be problematic and median might work better, but in this context they are fairly comparable,

so Australia is a clear winner on the income side of things.

But of course there are other things to consider alongside income.

For starters, tax.

As you can see here, Australia and New Zealand both have different income tax tables.

If we take a $100,000 income in New Zealand and compare it to the equivalent in Australian dollars, this is what we get.

In New Zealand, we deduct the income tax and ACC, giving us a take-home income of $75,452 a year.

Over in Australia, we take off income tax and Medicare, giving us $71,379.

Now if we convert the Kiwi dollars to Aussie dollars, we're left with just $68,980 a year, 3.4% less than the Aussies.

So on an income of around 90 000 australian dollars

or less you'll be paying less tax than you would on

the same income in new zealand assuming in australia the super is added on top of the salary

and adjusting for kiwi saver in new zealand too the difference

in incomes at a hundred thousand kiwi dollars a year widens to a substantial 11.8 percent

so all in all though the australian tax band widens to a whopping 45%, the average person is taxed less in Australia.

And based on our like-for-like comparison, Aussies come on top for incomes.

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It really helps me create more content just like this, but now let's compare the costs in New Zealand and Australia.

Broadly, I'll be looking at four areas of spending, housing, food, transport, and utilities.

So let's kick off by looking at the food.

Between Woolworths in Australia and New Zealand, I'm comparing the price of 50 staple items to get a rough gauge of the difference in prices.

There are thousands of possible comparisons, but I just want to give a high-level view here.

Starting with the meats, Chicken Breast is currently on special in New Zealand, pushing the price slightly lower here than in Australia.

It's the same for thighs, roughly 10% cheaper here.

Drumsticks, on the other hand, are 25% cheaper over the ditch.

Beef mints is substantially cheaper in Australia by 36% for the standard mints and about 20% on the premium stuff.

Oddly, steak in Australia is more expensive than in New Zealand by 20% on the scotch fillet

and 23% on the porterhouse or sirloin.

Pork mince is a whopping 41% cheaper in Australia, and 10% for pork chops.

Looking at lamb, a leg is 32% cheaper in Australia, and the mince 41% cheaper over there.

And to round out the meat comparisons, salmon is cheaper over the ditch too by 17%.

All in all, purchasing all of these items in Australia would have cost a little under $280.

In New Zealand, it would have cost $305, making New Zealand meats roughly 9% more expensive on average, from this limited range of items.

Moving over to fruits and vegetables, bananas are marginally cheaper in New Zealand, while avocados are currently cheaper over there by 80 cents.

Strawberries are cheaper in Australia too by about 10%, and apples are a whopping 41% cheaper.

Lemons are 24% lower in Australia.

Plums 46%, but Limes are lower in New Zealand by 37 cents each.

A big surprise was seeing the price of kiwifruit coming in 36 cents cheaper in Australia.

Pears are 4 cents cheaper in New Zealand, Tomatoes 35% cheaper in Australia, and Cucumbers are lower over there too by 16%.

Potatoes and Onions are cheaper in New Zealand by 20 and 54% respectively, while Carrots are roughly the same price in both countries.

Broccoli is 20% lower in Australia.

Lettuce 46% cheaper in New Zealand.

Capsicum too by 6 cents each.

And finally, kumara, zucchini, and mushrooms are all cheaper in Australia.

All up, fruits and vegetables come in 10% cheaper over in Australia, with 12 of the 20 items compared being lower priced.

Moving along, a 3-letter bottle of milk is 29% cheaper in Australia, and a UHT carton of milk too by 20%.

Bottles of cream are slightly cheaper in New Zealand by 6 cents, as is butter by 51 cents a block.

Mozzarella cheese is 21% cheaper in Australia, and tasty cheese too by 8%.

Chobani yogurt is lower in New Zealand by about 19 cents a carton, and a tray of eggs is 14% cheaper in Australia.

Obella dips are 18% cheaper in New Zealand,

and frozen fries are 16 cents lower in Australia frozen peas are 27% cheaper in New Zealand, hash browns 28% cheaper in Australia,

and that rounds out our refrigerated and freezer section.

Once again, Australia is cheaper by about 9%, consistently lining up with our prior to grocery segments.

Unfortunately, the pantry section continues the trend with all of these items averaging out to an 11% lower price in Australia.

So to summarize the findings in the grocery aisles,

to purchase all 50 items in Woolworths in New Zealand would have set you back $457.21.

In the Australian Woolworths, it would have cost just $418, 9% less than in New Zealand.

19 of the 50 items were priced lower in New Zealand, and the remaining 31 were priced lower in Australia.

So, Aussie clearly has lower-priced groceries.

The next area of costs I want to explore between the two countries is housing.

According to CoreLogic, the median house price in Sydney is just under $1.2 million Australian dollars.

Brisbane, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth trail sitting around the $800,000 to $900,000 mark.

According to Opus Partners here in New Zealand, Auckland's median sits at just over $1 million Kiwi dollars.

Once converted, it sits at $918,000 Australian dollars.

If Auckland was in Australia, it would have the second highest city median price.

Let's explore the cost to service a mortgage in both countries.

Taking the table of Australia's median house prices by city, and Auckland representing New Zealand's highest median prices,

let's overlay that with the latest rates assuming a 20% deposit.

ANZ currently charges Australian borrowers a 6.99% variable rate, and in New Zealand, the same rate goes for 6.89%.

The mortgage repayments on Sydney's median home would cost 30% more than in Auckland.

All other Australian cities would have lower repayments on the median home, with Brisbane coming in closest with just 1.6% lower repayments than in Auckland.

The housing mix is likely to be similar between Australia and New Zealand, so as a general statement,

house ownership is more affordable in Australia with the exception of Sydney.

Let's now take a look at rent.

Here is the median rent paid in each of Australia's main centres.

Sydney tops the list at $775 a week, while the others sit between $580 and $680 a week.

Using Tenancy Services data in Auckland, the median for a three-bedroom house,

assuming that in itself is about average, is $795 a week.

In Australian dollars, for comparative purposes, this drops to $723 a week.

This places Auckland squarely behind Sydney, but much higher than every other city in Australia.

So if you're renting, New Zealand is likely to be a more expensive place than Australia, unless you're looking at Sydney.

So we've looked at housing and grocery costs.

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Next up is transport, starting with public transport. In Sydney,

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catching a train for roughly 5 to 6 kilometres from Circular Quay to McDonald Town Station would cost $2.94 in Australian dollars.

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In Auckland, from Brutemart to Newmarket would cost $2.80 for the same distance, or an equivalent of $2.55 in Australian dollars.

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So for a short train ride, Auckland is 13% less expensive.

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If on the other hand, the journey was about 12 kilometres, Sydney would cost $3.65 to Croydon Station,

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while Auckland would cost $4.65 out to Ellerslie.

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Accounting for the exchange rate, Auckland is now 16% more expensive as compared to Sydney when we look at longer journeys.

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Catching a ferry from Circular Quay to Rose Bay takes roughly 12 minutes and costs $7.13 per journey.

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In Auckland, Brynhamart to Birkenhead, a 13-minute journey, would cost $7.40 or $6.73 in Australian dollars.

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So a short trip on Auckland ferries would cost around 6% less than in Sydney.

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So for public transport, Auckland comes out on top for shorter journeys and ferry rides, while for longer trips, Sydney comes out on top.

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The other side of transport is the cost of owning a car.

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A Hyundai Tucson would cost around $44,990 in New Zealand, drive away.

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In Australia, the same car would cost $40,990 in Australian dollars,

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or $45,076 in New Zealand dollars, just $86 more.

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A Ford Ranger Wildtrak, also like for like,

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would cost $76,990 in New Zealand and $76,627 in Australia.

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So nominal terms, they're about the same, but once we convert into New Zealand dollars, in Australia it would cost $84,267.

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This comes out to around $7,000 New Zealand more than if you bought the car in New Zealand.

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So new cars look to be at least as expensive in Australia as they are in New Zealand.

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Annual registration fees in New South Wales are $79,

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plus a vehicle tax, which for the average car around one and a half ton would be around $374 a year.

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So if you add those up, it would cost around $450 a year, excluding inspection and plate fees.

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In New Zealand, we only have an annual registration fee of $135.84 a year.

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Fuel, on the other hand, is a lot more expensive in New Zealand.

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Just outside Sydney CBD, in Redfern, BP charges $1.85 per litre for 91, and for diesel $1.92.

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In Auckland, just outside the CBD, in Newmarket, BP charges $2.72 per litre for 91, and $2 for diesel.

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Adjusting for exchange rates, in New Zealand, 91 fuel costs 62 Australian cents more than in Sydney, while Sydney charges 10 cents a litre more for diesel.

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So overall, transport costs are fairly even between Australia and New Zealand.

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There are some things cheaper in New Zealand like registration, cars and short-distance public transport,

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while in Australia, fuel and long-distance public transport are cheaper.

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Now we reach our final category, utilities.

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In Auckland, using 1,000 litres of water a week would come at an annual cost of $573.48,

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including a fixed charge, water, and wastewater.

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For the same usage, Sydney charges a fixed $67.60 for drinking water, $623.56 for wastewater, and $88.92 for stormwater.

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The variable rate for 1,000 litres a week comes to just $138.84.

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Converting this to New Zealand dollars, it comes to $1,010.54 or 78% more than in Auckland.

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Moving along now to electricity, for Auckland, I've used contact energy.

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If you use around 10.7 kWh a day or $3,900 a year, you'd spend an annual $1,439.

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In Sydney, using Origin Energy as an example, you'd pay roughly $1,628 a year, or in Kiwi dollars, $1,790.

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This is 24% more expensive than in New Zealand.

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For internet, contact charges $85 a month for 300 megabits down and 100 up.

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In Sydney, they have 3 to 5 times slower speeds for $105 a month.

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So Australia is 36% more expensive when it comes to broadband plans, and much worse ones at that.

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So across all major household utilities, Auckland comes out between 24 and 76% better off, as compared to Sydney.

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If you want to take a closer look at the difference in salaries between New Zealand and Australia, make sure to check this video out here.

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Below that is another looking at Australia's top 5 super funds.

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Please make sure to subscribe down below and I look forward to catching you on the next one.

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Cheers.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “NZ vs Australia: Where Is It Cheaper to Live in 2025?”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: australia, zealand, cheaper, cost, Auckland. This video has 148 sentences and 2061 words to shadow. The speech runs for 14:23. The speaker talks at a steady 143 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
median noun	/ˈmiː.di.ən/	A line segment joining the vertex of triangle to the midpoint of the opposing side.
kiwi noun	/ˈkiːwi/	A flightless bird of the order Apterygiformes native to New Zealand.
convert verb	/kənˈvɝt/	To transform or change (something) into another form, substance, state, or product.
repayment noun		The act of repaying.
whopping adjective	/ˈ(h)wɑpɪŋ/	Exceptionally great or large.
litter noun	/ˈlɪt.ɚ/	Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
subscribe verb	/səbˈskɹaɪb/	To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
ferry noun	/ˈfɛɹi/	A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
diesel noun	/ˈdisəl/	A fuel derived from petroleum (or other oils) but heavier than gasoline/petrol. Used to power diesel engines which burn this fuel using the heat produced when…
grocery noun	/ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/	Retail foodstuffs and other household supplies.
carton noun	/ˈkɑɹtn̩/	An inexpensive, disposable box-like container fashioned from either paper, paper with wax-covering (wax paper), or other lightweight material.
kilometre noun	/kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/	An SI unit of length equal to 10³ metres. Symbol: km
mince noun	/mɪns/	Finely chopped meat; minced meat.
wastewater noun		Any water that has been used in some human domestic or industrial activity and, as a result, now contains waste products.
widen verb	/ˈwaɪdn̩/	To become wide or wider.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
move along verb		To continue without being distracted; to keep going.
come out verb	/ˌkʌm ˈaʊt/	To be discovered; to be revealed.
drive away verb		To force someone or something to leave
kick off verb		To make the first kick in a game or part of a game.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
sit around verb		To spend time sitting idly, not doing anything important.
take off verb		To remove.

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 14 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, you'd, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: mushroom /ˈmʌʃˌɹuːm/, hash /ˈhæʃ/, inspection /ɪnˈspɛkʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: kilometre /kɪˈlɑmɪtəɹ/, avocado /ˌɑvəˈkɑdoʊ/, marginally /ˈmɑɹd͡ʒɪnəli/, mozzarella /mɑt.səˈɹɛl.ə/, refrigerate /ɹɪˈfɹɪd͡ʒəɹeɪt/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like median, kiwi, convert.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: NZ vs Australia: Where Is It Cheaper to Live in 2025? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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