Home

New Zealand – Some Highlights Of The Economy

Aotearoa New Zealand is a country positioned in the southern Pacific. The overall area of the country measures almost 268,021 square kilometres (about 100k square miles) It is separated into two main islands – the North Island and the South Island. There are also around 600 smaller islands. New Zealand is located across the Tasman Sea about 3kkm (2k miles) to the east of Australia and also approximately 900km (600 miles south of the Pacific Island. NZ has a diverse landscape having steep mountain peaks like the South Island alpine range which produced by tectonic pressures.

 

For other areas you can find flat lands, volcanoes and not so steep terrain.

 

New Zealand is a commerce driven nation. It compares highly with other commercial countries with regard to the nation’s performance like education, economic freedom, central government transparency, as well as defense of constitutional freedoms.

 

The country’s highest populated metropolis is Auckland however the seat of government is in the smaller city Wellington.

 

Due to its sophisticated economy, in 2018 the country was ranked in the top 3 in the EFI and also in the top 20 in the Human Development Index. It has a high-income nation having a Gross Domestic Product of USD 36,000 per capita.

 

The business is dominated by the service sector then next is farming then the manufacturing sector. Tourist activity adds a significant 12.9 billion dollars (5.6%) to the total GDP of the nation. Up to 2019 it supported around 8% of the country’s complete labour force. Before Covid-19 global visitor numbers were anticipated to increase at a over 5% each year, nevertheless, Covid-19 limitations clearly have battered the tourism industry to such an extent that it has virtually been stopped.

 

Extractive industries have been historically strong elements of the economy with sectors like whaling, kauri gum, gold, flax, as well as indigenous hardwood being common at different periods.

 

Dairy products as well as meat exports to Great Britain began in the late 19th century with the initial shipment of New Zealand refrigerated lamb on a ship called Dunedin. The foundation of this trade led strong economic expansion in the country. During the 50s and 60s, an increased market for farming produce from the USA and Britain contributed to higher standards of living for Kiwis that surpassed those of Western Europe as well as Australia. Successive governments since 1984 have brought about major macro-economic reshaping that swiftly changed the country from a very managed and protected economy to a liberal, free-trade economic situation.

 

The economic climate of the country relies greatly on international trade, especially farming produce. Because exporting makes up around 24% of New Zealand’s output, this places the nation in a susceptible position when it comes to worldwide economic downturns and international product costs.

 

In 2014, food composed over 50% of the worth of the total NZ export trade with wood at about 7% coming in the 2nd biggest.

 

Key trading countries are China with NZD nearly 28 bn, Australia with NZ$ about 26 billion, the European Union at NZ$ 22.9 billion, the U.S.A. at NZD 17.6 billion, and Japan at NZD 8.4 billion.

 

The NZ-China Free Trade Agreement was agreed by China and NZ on the 7th April, 2008 becoming the very first such arrangement to be authorised by the Chinese government with a Western nation.

 

Milk goods represented $14.1bn (17.7%) of overall export trade in 2018. One business, Fonterra, manages practically a 3rd of the country’s worldwide overseas trade.

 

Various other overseas trade includes lamb and beef at 8.8%, wood products and also wood at 6.2%, pip fruit at more than 3.5%, machinery at 2.2%, red and white wine at in excess of 2%. As with a similar trend to the milk sector, sales of wine nearly doubled surpassing woollen sales in the 2000s. During the global Covid-19, the wine industry enjoyed considerable success with even more New Zealand wine being imported by various other nations.

 

Domestically the business sector comprises mainly small operators, over 70% of them being sole traders with 19% having between 1 and 5 people.

 

Modern technology and also the art sector are developing industries. New Zealand has made worldwide recognition for its electronic effects and also film recording.

 

The largest metro area in New Zealand, Auckland, has a populace of 1.5m from a total population of about 5m. The two regions of Christchurch and Wellington each have the same populace of about 400,000.