WELLINGTON, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's two main parties have suffered heavy losses in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll, with the ruling National Party falling below 30 percent support for the first time this year.

The poll, conducted from Oct. 1 to 5 and released Wednesday, showed opposition Labor maintaining its position as the largest party despite a 2.6-point drop to 31.2 percent, while ruling National fell 3.5 points to 29.6 percent.

Minor parties were gaining ground: the Greens rose 1.3 points to 12 percent, while New Zealand First gained 2.5 points to 10.6 percent. ACT dropped 0.1 points to 6.6 percent and Te Pati Maori (the Maori Party) edged up to 4.4 percent, the poll showed.

The combined projected seats for the center-left bloc remained on 61 seats, compared with 59 for the center-right, enough for Labor and its allies to form a government, it said.

Labor leader Chris Hipkins, now preferred prime minister at 20.9 percent to Prime Minister and National Party leader Christopher Luxon's 19.8 percent, said the overall trend favored Labor.

Cost of living remains voters' top concern at 26.4 percent, followed by the broader economy at 17.4 percent. Other notable issues include health, employment and poverty, according to the monthly poll of 1,000 New Zealanders with a margin of error of about 3.1 percent. Enditem