Manufacturing and retail boost economy

The New Zealand economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), grew by 0.8 percent in the September 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This follows a 0.1 percent growth in the June 2011 quarter.

The largest movements in the September 2011 quarter were in the following industries:

• manufacturing (up 2.3 percent) – mainly driven by a 6.3 percent increase in food, beverage, and tobacco manufacturing 
• retail, accommodation, and restaurants (up 2.5 percent) – the largest quarterly increase in this industry since the March 2007 quarter
• finance, insurance, and business services (up 0.6 percent) – mainly due to business services 
• construction (down 2.2 percent) – the largest fall this quarter.

"Activity in the retail, accommodation, and restaurants industry was certainly boosted by the Rugby World Cup. New Zealanders and visitors to New Zealand both contributed to that rise," national accounts manager Rachael Milicich said. "The big mover in manufacturing was from food, beverage, and tobacco, which had its biggest rise since 2002."

For the year ended September 2011, the economy grew 1.3 percent. Real gross national disposable income, which measures the goods and services that New Zealand has command over, was up 2.8 percent for the same period.

The expenditure measure of GDP – which is conceptually the same as the production measure of GDP – was up 1.0 percent in the September 2011 quarter, following 0.1 percent growth in the June 2011 quarter. The production measure of GDP shows the volume of goods and services produced by an economy. The expenditure measure shows how those goods and services were used.

Household consumption expenditure was up 1.5 percent in the September 2011 quarter. This is the largest increase in the volume of spending by New Zealand households since the March 2007 quarter. In the latest quarter, the largest increases by volume were: food in supermarkets, food and alcohol in restaurants, and recreational goods.

See:
Gross Domestic Product: September 2011 quarter – Information release