New Zealand's general election has ended in deadlock, with no winner and the next government unlikely to be settled for weeks.

With 96.1 per cent of voting places reported, the governing National Party held 29.3 per cent of the party vote against 29.2 per cent for Labour, according to RNZ. National led by only about 2,500 votes out of nearly 2.38 million counted; both major parties finished below 30 per cent.

The seat picture favours the incumbents. National, ACT and New Zealand First were projected to hold 67 seats — National 42, ACT 13 and New Zealand First 12 — in a Parliament expanded to about 130 seats. The left bloc held 56: Labour 35, the Greens a best-ever 16 and Te Pāti Māori five. Opportunity held seven.

A near-tie in the party vote

The lead changed hands several times through the night. CNN put Labour marginally ahead on vote share; the RNZ-cited figures put National marginally ahead. Either way, the gap is a fraction of a point.

Why National leads on seats

National won 42 electorate seats, more than its party-vote share would normally earn under mixed-member proportional voting. Each win above its share becomes an overhang seat, pushing Parliament past its usual 120 and lifting the majority threshold to 66.

Three weeks of uncertainty

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said his party appeared to have a pathway to form the next government, but the race remained too close to call. Labour leader Chris Hipkins and his bloc appear to have fallen short of a majority.

The preliminary count excludes special votes — ballots cast overseas, outside a voter's electorate, or by late enrollees — of which over 172,000 had been recorded. Special votes have historically favoured the left. The official result is due on 27 November.