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# KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals surge as financial pressure persists
- URL: https://goodoil.news/kiwisaver-hardship-withdrawals-surge-as-financial-pressure-persists/
- Published: 2026-01-28T00:05:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-01-28T01:33:59.000Z
- Description: “Two-speed recovery.”
- Author: Centrist
- Tags: News

Summarised by [Centrist](https://centrist.nz/?ref=goodoil.news)

**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Nearly $515 million was withdrawn for hardship reasons, compared with just shy of $404 million in 2024.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of hardship withdrawals exceeded first-home withdrawals by more than 10,000, even though more than $2 billion was withdrawn to purchase homes.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.

[**Read more over at RNZ**](https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/585131/kiwisaver-withdrawals-surge-in-2025?ref=goodoil.news)

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