Expansion and research on the rise

Expansion and research on the rise

20 March 2018

One in three New Zealand businesses invested in their expansion in 2017, compared with 1 in 5 in 2007, Stats NZ said today. These results come from the Business Operations Survey, which reports on businesses with six or more employees.

Investment in expansion can include purchasing assets (such as land and machinery). It can also include entering into new markets, or investing in innovation. Innovation can include developing and implementing new products, business processes, and marketing methods.

The industries with the greatest growth in expansion rates over the past decade were the construction, and information media and telecommunications industries.

In the construction industry, 43 percent of businesses reported investing in their expansion in 2017, compared with 20 percent in 2009 and 24 percent in 2007.

“The construction industry saw a significant decline in expansion rates in 2009 after the global financial crisis,” business performance manager Laura O'Leary said. “The increased demand for construction work in recent years means businesses need to grow to keep up with the workload.”

One in nine businesses in New Zealand reported performing research and development (R&D) activities in 2017 – the highest rate of R&D performance since 2007. R&D rates increased across all business-size groups and most industry sectors over this time period.

The proportion of businesses that reported sales from tourism remained steady at 23 percent in 2017, compared with 2016. This represents an increase in the number of businesses with tourism sales, which was balanced out by an increase in the total number of businesses.

The percentage of businesses reporting export sales dropped slightly in 2017 (24 percent, from 25 percent in 2016). The number of exporting businesses has increased since 2016, but this was outweighed by the increase in the number of non-exporting businesses.

Authorised by Liz MacPherson, Government Statistician, 20 March 2018.

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Business operations survey: 2017
• See CSV files for download

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