Vehicles, machinery and equipment imports are leading the way in New Zealand’s multi-billion dollar trading market.
Two-way trade between New Zealand and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries has reached $102 billion for the year ending September 2017, Statistics NZ research shows.
“Over the last decade, New Zealand’s two-way trade with APEC has grown $31 billion, and a $2.6 billion deficit is now a $4 billion surplus,” international statistics manager Tehseen Islam says.
New Zealand imports a large number of cars and trucks from APEC nations including Japan, Thailand, the US, and South Korea.
New Zealand also imported $2 billion worth of electrical machinery and equipment from China in the September 2017 year, and nearly $4 billion worth of mechanical machinery and equipment from China, the US, and Japan combined.
Dairy products are our largest export to the combined APEC nations. New Zealand exported $9 billion worth of milk powder, butter, and cheese to these countries in the September 2017 year. This was $2 billion short of the $11 billion high exported in 2014.
China is New Zealand’s largest export market for milk powder, butter, and cheese, totalling 28% or nearly $4 billion. Algeria is the next-largest export market for these products, which makes up 5%. APEC countries Australia and Malaysia are also in NZ’s top five dairy export markets.
