Overseas Merchandise Trade (Imports): Feb 2000

Overseas Merchandise Trade (Imports): February 2002

Imports Trend Continues to Rise The provisional value of merchandise imports for February 2002 is $2,351 million, according to latest figures released by Statistics New Zealand. The imports trend indicates continued growth for the latest four months, following falls for the previous four months.

The early estimate for February 2002 merchandise exports is $2,620 million, giving a merchandise trade surplus of $269 million for the month, compared with a surplus of $389 million for the February 2001 month. Detailed statistics for February 2002 merchandise exports will be released on 11 April 2002.

Seasonally adjusted imports of consumption goods rose 9.4 percent in the February 2002 month, following a rise of 7.5 percent in the January 2002 month. Excluding crude oil, seasonally adjusted intermediate goods (goods imported for further processing) decreased 8.0 percent in value in the February 2002 month following a rise of 7.9 percent in the January 2002 month. Seasonally adjusted capital machinery and plant imports have decreased by 9.6 percent in the February 2002 month.

For the year ended February 2002, the provisional value of merchandise imports is $32,145 million, an increase of 3.2 percent from the previous February year. Excluding items individually valued at $100 million or more (such as large aircraft and ships), the annual increase in merchandise imports was 5.1 percent.

Brian Pink Government Statistician

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