The polls underscore the tricky position Prime Minister Chris Luxon finds himself as his three-party government nears the halfway mark of its first term.
New Zealand is deep in an economic mire, with GDP falling by two per cent last year, and in an existential and divisive debate over the place of Maori, fuelled by an unpopular government reform.
The political and economic environment has denied Mr Luxon any sort of honeymoon with Kiwi voters.
An analysis by NZ outlet The Overhang shows it is the second-least popular first-term government of the past half-century.
In the authoritative TVNZ poll, released on Monday, Mr Luxon's National party has fallen to 34 per cent (down three per cent), with coalition partners ACT on nine per cent and NZ First on five per cent.
Opposition Labour is up four per cent to 33 per cent, with the left bloc pipping the right to a parliamentary majority in New Zealand's electoral system courtesy of support partners the Greens (10 per cent) and the Maori Party (four per cent).
Mr Luxon has also fallen to a 22 per cent rating as preferred prime minister, ahead of Labour leader Chris Hipkins on 17 per cent.
Another poll released by waste-watch group Taxpayers Union, conducted by right-aligned pollster Curia, has the left bloc ahead for the first time since 2022.
Concerningly for Mr Luxon, the question of whether Kiwis think the country is going in the right direction or wrong direction - considered a key metric by political analysts - is dominated by the negative, and at the worst level since taking office.
"We're working incredibly hard ... I'm working 20 hours a day a lot, seven days a week, as is our team to make sure we're delivering for New Zealanders," Mr Luxon told TVNZ.
"We're doing everything we can in a very tough set of circumstances."
Given the economic gloom, Mr Luxon has made 2025 "the year that New Zealand goes for growth", putting the turnaround at the centre of his government's agenda.
"I know it's been tough for New Zealanders. There's some relief in there and some green shoots with lower inflation, lower interest rates, tax relief, rising levels of confidence," he said.
"This job is about growth, growth, growth this year. That's so important. Growth creates higher-paying and more jobs and that's what it's all about."
The polling is far from terminal for the government given it is roughly 20 months to the next election.
Mr Hipkins, who on these numbers would return to the office he briefly held in 2023 after Dame Jacinda Ardern's resignation, said Labour had a long way to go.
"I think New Zealanders have seen enough of this government to know that it's taking the country backwards but we know we have to get out there and earn every single vote," he said.
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