Official Figures today from Statistics New Zealand demonstrated the strength of the New Zealand economy.

CTU Economist Craig Renney said “GDP fell by 3.7% with the fall being driven by the Auckland COVID lockdown. This result beats recent forecasts from the Reserve Bank and the Treasury of predicted falls of 7% and 6% respectively. These figures also point to the success of the government’s programme to support the economy during lockdown periods

“The figures today show that the economy has continued to expand even when we look back over the whole period of COVID, with GDP growth being positive since December 2019. On an annual basis GDP per capita grew 4%. With the ending of lockdowns and reductions in restrictions there is every reason to be optimistic about the economic outlook for 2022.

CTU Economist Craig Renney said “The strength of these figures show that now is the time to be making the essential long-term investments in New Zealand. These figures demonstrate that we can both afford quality public services and fairly-paid essential workers. We can afford to tackle the problems facing the country from COVID to climate change. We can also afford to deliver a Minimum Wage that meets the Living Wage”.

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