Overseas Merchandise Trade (Imports): August 2004

Overseas Merchandise Trade (Imports): August 2004

27 September 2004

Rise in Imports Trend Slows

The rise in the trend of merchandise imports has slowed, according to Statistics New Zealand. The trend has increased 0.6 percent over the latest three months following a rise of 3.2 percent over the previous three months.

The provisional value of merchandise imports for August 2004 is $3,085 million, 18.6 percent higher than for August 2003. The main contributors to the higher value of imports for August 2004 when compared with August 2003, were aircraft; petroleum and crude oil; wind-powered generators; laptop computers; and iron and steel articles. (In this month, one large aircraft valued at over $100 million was imported.) Partly offsetting these higher values was a lower value for imported vehicles.

The estimated value of merchandise exports for August 2004 is $2,360 million, resulting in an estimated merchandise trade deficit of $725 million, or 30.7 percent of exports. Detailed exports information will be released on 6 October 2004.

Government Statistician

ENDS

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