Dairy rebound boosts economic growth

Dairy rebound boosts economic growth – Media release

19 December 2013

Rebounding dairy production drove a 1.4 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) for the September 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This increase in GDP is the largest since the December 2009 quarter.

The strong increase in dairy production was the main contributor to a 17.0 percent rise in agriculture, which makes up about 5 percent of the New Zealand economy.

"Dairy farming has really bounced back from the drought this year," acting national accounts manager Steffi Schuster said. "The increase in agriculture is the largest in more than 25 years, as good weather boosted production well above the weak June quarter."

Dairy product manufacturing also increased this quarter, which contributed to a 1.5 percent rise in total manufacturing. While manufacturing production was up, exports of dairy products fell this quarter, leading to a build-up of inventories. The $770 million increase in total inventories this quarter is the largest buildup since the series began.

Increases in agriculture and manufacturing production were partly offset by declines in:

• Construction (down 1.0 percent), as falls in infrastructure and commercial construction outweighed an increase in housing construction. Investment in housing was up 8.5 percent from the previous quarter.
• Business services (down 0.8 percent), with most sub-industries down, except for architectural and engineering services.

Economic activity for the year ended September 2013 was up 2.6 percent.

The expenditure measure of GDP was up 1.1 percent in the September 2013 quarter. The main movements were:

• Investment in fixed assets (up 3.1 percent), driven by increased imports of plant, machinery, and equipment. This was also reflected in a 4.5 percent rise in imports of goods and services.
• Build-ups in manufacturing and distribution inventories, as supply of goods exceeded demand this quarter.
• Volume of spending by New Zealand households (up 0.4 percent), mainly due to increased spending on durables like furniture and motor vehicles.

Visit Gross Domestic Product: September 2013 quarter

GrossDomesticProductSep13qtr.pdf

gdpsep13alltables.xls

ENDS

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