China our number one export destination

China our number one export destination – Media release

19 December 2013

For the first time, China has surpassed Australia as New Zealand’s top goods export destination on an annual basis, Statistics New Zealand said today.

“China is now our top export destination on an annual basis, just under two years after it became our top annual imports partner in December 2011,” industry and labour statistics manager Louise Holmes-Oliver said.

In November 2013, goods exports were valued at $4.5 billion, up $647 million (17 percent) from November 2012. Exports to China hit record levels in October 2013 and November 2013. Exports to China were valued at $1.2 billion.

Dairy contributed the most (63 percent) to the total exports to China, valued at $774 million, in November 2013. This is the highest value of dairy exports to China for any month. Total dairy exports were valued at $1.7 billion – also the highest for any month.

The value of imported goods was $4.3 billion – down $124 million (2.8 percent) from November 2012. A fall in intermediate goods, due to crude oil, affected this movement. Consumption goods also fell, while capital goods rose.

The trade balance for November 2013 was a surplus of $183 million (4.1 percent of exports). This is the first trade surplus for a November month since 1991. This follows a trade deficit in October 2013, which was the lowest deficit for an October month since the mid-1990s.

Overseas merchandise trade statistics remain provisional for the first three months after data is first released. For more information, see Why overseas merchandise trade data can change on the Statistics NZ website.

ENDS

OverseasMerchandiseTradeNov13MR.pdf
omtnov13tables.xls

Earlier:

Overseas Merchandise Trade: November 2013

19 December 2013

Today Statistics New Zealand inadvertently released some data for Overseas Merchandise Trade: November 2013, which was available for a short period on our web-based tool, Infoshare.

In the interest of equal access to our data, at 2pm this afternoon we will release the Overseas Merchandise Trade: November 2013 media release, Excel tables, and detailed commodity section on Infoshare.

The Overseas Merchandise Trade: November 2013 information release, remaining Infoshare series, and subscription jobs will be released tomorrow at 10:45am.

We apologise for this inconvenience.

ENDS

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