Table of Contents
Summarised by Centrist
Hardship withdrawals from KiwiSaver rose sharply in 2025, with Inland Revenue data showing 58,460 hardship withdrawals, up from 47,390 the year before.
Nearly $515 million was withdrawn for hardship reasons, compared with just shy of $404 million in 2024.
The number of hardship withdrawals exceeded first-home withdrawals by more than 10,000, even though more than $2 billion was withdrawn to purchase homes.
KiwiSaver providers say there is no sign of the trend easing. Kernel founder Dean Anderson said the figures reflected a “two-speed recovery”, with some households using KiwiSaver as a last resort to cope with sustained cost pressures, while others are drawing on growing balances to enter the housing market.
The Retirement Commissioner warned that early withdrawals come at a long-term cost, reducing retirement savings and compounding returns, and said better data was needed to understand the causes of hardship withdrawals and prevent them from becoming entrenched.
