New Zealand's GDP increases 2 pct in Q3

WELLINGTON, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 2 percent in the September 2022 quarter, following a revised 1.9 percent rise in the June quarter, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.

This rise was driven primarily by the services industries, which was up 2 percent. The transport, postal, and warehousing industry was the biggest contributor to the growth, up 9.7 percent, Stats NZ said.

"With borders opening to all visitors in the September 2022 quarter, we have seen more spending on both international and domestic air travel," said Stats NZ's industry and production senior manager Ruvani Ratnayake.

The business services industry also contributed to the result, driven by computer system services, recruitment services, and travel agency and tour arrangement services, Ratnayake said.

Restructuring within the health care sector during the quarter saw some activity reallocated from the government administration industry to the health care industry, he said.

The rise in construction was mirrored by increases in residential building, non-residential building, and infrastructure investment. Expenditure on transport equipment and plant, machinery, and equipment also rose in the quarter, Stats NZ said.

Investment and exports were the leading contributors to a 2-percent increase in the expenditure measure of GDP, Ratnayake said, adding exports of goods and services rose 7.8 percent, driven by higher exports of dairy products, travel services, and meat products.

"The economy is continuing to grow solidly with the return of tourists in increasing numbers and higher construction activity," said Finance Minister Grant Robertson, adding this has put New Zealand in a stronger starting point to meet the challenges of a deteriorating global economy.

New Zealand's economy is nearly 7.9 percent bigger than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Robertson, also the deputy prime minister.

New Zealand's growth has been led by business investment and the return of tourists, while government spending was down 1.8 percent in the September quarter and flat in the previous June quarter, he added.

On an annual basis, New Zealand's economic activity was 6.4 percent higher than the same quarter of the previous year. The size of the economy was 375 billion NZ dollars (about 242 billion U.S. dollars), Robertson said.