Export prices are sitting in a strong position, with healthy demand for New Zealand products across the world and healthy supply here at home. Higher dairy production and a record pay-out will inject an additional $4.5b into the economy in the current season, and meat prices have strengthened over the second half of 2024 too. Horticulture exports are in a strong position too, with rising kiwifruit exports after a tough earlier season, and apple exports have recovered well too after Cyclone Gabrielle. Read

The pace of supplier cost increases to Foodstuffs supermarkets slowed further in February, with the Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index (GSCI) showing an average 1.8% increase in what suppliers charged in February 2025, compared to a year earlier. Read

There are some early, small, tentative signs of a turnaround according to Infometrics’ latest monitoring of regional economies, but tough conditions remained for many areas and sectors at the end of 2024. Read

Our recent update of the Infometrics Regional Economic Profile provides us with another year of detailed data across regional economies to examine. Over the March 2024 year, our analysis shows that rural economies had the strongest economic activity growth, with the primary sector a key part of this growth story. Read

The tourism recovery has been uneven, with different country or region markets in focus. Over the 2024 calendar year, the US cemented itself as New Zealand’s second-largest inbound visitor market, with 11% of total tourist arrivals. The US market has fully recovered back to pre-pandemic levels over 2024. In comparison, China has slipped back to New Zealand’s third-largest market (from second-largest back in 2019), with only a 61% recovery over 2024. Read

The pace of supplier cost increases to Foodstuffs supermarkets slowed slightly in January, with the Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Grocery Supplier Cost Index (GSCI) showing an average 2.1% increase in what suppliers charged in January 2025, compared to a year earlier. Read

Aggregates are important. But how important is clouded by a lack of quality data being collected. Based on current production figures and survey response rates, the actual amount of aggregates produced over the last 12 years might be 49% higher than reported. Read

The pace of supplier cost increases to Foodstuffs supermarkets picked up slightly again in December, with the Infometrics-Foodstuffs New Zealand Read

Economic figures aren’t always the most interesting or entertaining, but they are important to monitor how broader trends evolve and what they mean for different groups. But sometimes, various datasets can be put to more fun use. For our last Chart of the Month for 2024, we look into Christmas costs... Read

US President Ronald Reagan is famous for repeatedly using the phrase “trust, but verify”, underscoring the importance of testing assumptions to confirm that claims are true. It’s a phrase that economists also keep in mind when dealing with a vast array of different datasets. Read