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New Zealand’s total exports of goods and services declined 16.5% to $72.6 billion in the year ended March 2021, as per the data released by Stats NZ on Wednesday. The data reflects the effects of the coronavirus-affected year.
International trade manager Alasdair Allen stated that the drop in exports showed the alterations that the country’s economy had been witnessing with a significant fall in both travel and transportation services, resulting in increased value of primary industries. Further, a mild decline was seen in dairy and meat, which added to other factors.
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Here’s a look at all the contributing factors that showed a drop in exports for the year ended March 2021 against the previous year to March:
- Travel exports that involved visitor expenditure in NZ declined by 63.1% to $5.8 billion.
- Transportation exports dropped 60.1% to $1.3 billion.
- Meat and edible offal declined 4.8%, while dairy also experienced a drop of 3.1%.
- Telecommunications, computer, and information (ICT) services majorly stayed stable.
The overall value of goods and services imports fell to $70.3 billion in March 2021, down 17.2% from the previous year. This whole decrease defied a 6.6% increase in total imports from China.
Despite a $2-billion trade deficit with the European Union, New Zealand's trade surplus with all nations was $2.3 billion in the year to March 2021, with China driving the surplus.
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For the past 4 years, China has been the top trading partner of New Zealand. In the year to March 2021, China accounted for 26% of NZ’s total goods and services exports and 20% of imports.
Import prices fell but recovery witnessed in oil and transport prices
Import and export prices in the Overseas Trade Index (OTI) decreased 0.8% in the quarter ended March 2021. With yearly drops of 6.3% for imports and 7.2% for exports, prices were substantially below those seen a year earlier.
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As COVID-19 limitations throughout the world were lifted, import prices for gasoline and petroleum products surged 13.8% in the March 2021 quarter.
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The worldwide rebound in oil prices reflects rising demand as economies recover from lockdowns and travel restrictions, as well as tightening supply owing to lower oil output, as per business prices delivery manager Bryan Downes. There was also increased demand for logs globally, majorly from China, resulting in surged prices for NZ wood.
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Services import prices also soared 12%. The rise in import prices was due to 52.2% rise in transportation services, establishing new milestones for the greatest quarterly gain and the highest levels since the series started.
The huge jump in import prices for transportation services reflects rising expenses for sea transport, Mr Downes noted. He also added that shipping prices had risen over the world as a result of container scarcity, port overcrowding, and rising consumer demand.
