Gross domestic product (GDP) provides a snapshot of the performance of the economy. GDP is New Zealand's official measure of economic growth.
Key facts
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms (adjusted for price inflation).
In the December 2024 quarter, compared with the September 2024 quarter:
- GDP rose 0.7 percent
- expenditure on GDP rose 0.8 percent
- GDP per capita rose 0.4 percent
- real gross national disposable income rose 1.5 percent.
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted nominal terms (not adjusted for price inflation).
In the December 2024 quarter, compared with the September 2024 quarter:
- expenditure on GDP rose 1.8 percent
- income GDP rose 1.7 percent.
New Zealand economy up in December 2024 quarter
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms.
Economic activity rose 0.7 percent in the December 2024 quarter as measured by gross domestic product. This follows a 1.1 percent fall in the September 2024 quarter. GDP fell 0.5 percent over the year ended December 2024 compared with the year ended December 2023.
Expenditure on GDP rose 0.8 percent in the December 2024 quarter, following a 0.9 percent fall in the September 2024 quarter. Expenditure on GDP fell 0.1 percent over the year ended December 2024 compared with the year ended December 2023.
| Quarter | Quarterly growth (%) |
| Sep-18 | 0.1 |
| Dec-18 | 1.5 |
| Mar-19 | 0.9 |
| Jun-19 | 0 |
| Sep-19 | 0.8 |
| Dec-19 | 1 |
| Mar-20 | -1.1 |
| Jun-20 | -10.4 |
| Sep-20 | 14.1 |
| Dec-20 | 0.4 |
| Mar-21 | 2.1 |
| Jun-21 | 0.9 |
| Sep-21 | -4.2 |
| Dec-21 | 4.1 |
| Mar-22 | 0 |
| Jun-22 | 1.1 |
| Sep-22 | 2 |
| Dec-22 | 0 |
| Mar-23 | -0.1 |
| Jun-23 | 0.8 |
| Sep-23 | 0 |
| Dec-23 | 0.2 |
| Mar-24 | 0.4 |
| Jun-24 | -1.1 |
| Sep-24 | -1.1 |
| Dec-24 | 0.7 |
| Quarter | Annual growth (%) |
| Sep-18 | 3.5 |
| Dec-18 | 3.5 |
| Mar-19 | 3.5 |
| Jun-19 | 3.2 |
| Sep-19 | 3.3 |
| Dec-19 | 3 |
| Mar-20 | 2.3 |
| Jun-20 | -0.7 |
| Sep-20 | -1 |
| Dec-20 | -1.3 |
| Mar-21 | -0.3 |
| Jun-21 | 6.2 |
| Sep-21 | 5.3 |
| Dec-21 | 5.6 |
| Mar-22 | 4.5 |
| Jun-22 | 0.7 |
| Sep-22 | 2.7 |
| Dec-22 | 2.9 |
| Mar-23 | 3.5 |
| Jun-23 | 4 |
| Sep-23 | 2.4 |
| Dec-23 | 1.8 |
| Mar-24 | 1.4 |
| Jun-24 | 0.6 |
| Sep-24 | 0.1 |
| Dec-24 | -0.5 |
Growth and contribution to growth by industry group, December 2024 quarter
The following three graphs show the growth, contribution to growth, and economic share of the primary, goods-producing, and services industries to GDP for the December 2024 quarter. Click the Table tabs to see all the values.
| Industry group | Growth (%) |
| Primary | 1.1 |
| Goods-producing | -0.8 |
| Services | 0.8 |
| Industry group | Contribution (%) |
| Primary | 0.06 |
| Goods-producing | -0.15 |
| Services | 0.54 |
| Industry group | Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Primary | 5.8 |
| Goods-producing | 20.6 |
| Services | 73.6 |
| Industry | Change ($) |
| "Agriculture | 50000000 |
| forestry | -6000000 |
| and fishing" | 18000000 |
| Mining | 38000000 |
| Manufacturing | -134000000 |
| "Electricity | 8000000 |
| gas | 89000000 |
| water | 67000000 |
| and waste services" | -85000000 |
| Construction | 21000000 |
| Wholesale trade | 112000000 |
| Retail trade and accommodation | -19000000 |
| "Transport | -16000000 |
| postal | 2000000 |
| and warehousing" | 88000000 |
| "Information | 44000000 |
| media | |
| and telecommunications" | |
| Financial and insurance services | |
| "Rental | |
| hiring | |
| and real estate services" | |
| Business services | |
| "Public admin | |
| safety | |
| and defence" | |
| Education and training | |
| Health care and social assistance | |
| "Arts | |
| recreation | |
| and other services" |
| Component | Change ($) |
| Household consumption expenditure | 25000000 |
| Private consumption expenditure | 34000000 |
| General government expenditure | 276000000 |
| Change in inventories | 297000000 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 22000000 |
| Gross national expenditure | 467000000 |
| Exports of goods and services | 627000000 |
| (less) Imports of goods and services | 251000000 |
| Expenditure on gross domestic product | 595000000 |
Upwards drivers - change in expenditure
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms.
Exports of goods and services was up 3.5 percent, driven by:
- travel services
- meat products.
The change in inventories increased by $297 million in the December 2024 quarter, driven by forestry inventories.
Downwards drivers - change in expenditure
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms.
Imports of goods and services was up 1.1 percent (a rise in imports has a downwards contribution to expenditure on GDP), driven by:
- refined petroleum
- capital goods.
New Zealand's real purchasing power rises in December 2024 quarter
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms.
In the December 2024 quarter, compared with the September 2024 quarter:
- real gross national disposable income rose 1.5 percent
- real gross national disposable income per capita rose 1.2 percent.
In the year ended December 2024, compared with the year ended December 2023:
- annual real gross national disposable income fell 0.3 percent
- annual real gross national disposable income per capita fell 2.0 percent.
While GDP measures economic activity, real gross national disposable income (RGNDI) measures the volumes of goods and services that New Zealand residents have command over, that is, the real purchasing power of the country's disposable income. RGNDI is also affected by changes in the terms of trade, the country's net investment income, and net transfer flows with the rest of the world.
New Zealand's ability to buy goods and services from its income, RGNDI, was up, at 1.5 percent in the December 2024 quarter. Economic activity, net transfer flows, and the terms of trade all increased, while net investment income on our international investments decreased.
Over the December 2024 quarter, export prices rose 3.2 percent, while import prices rose 0.1 percent, increasing the terms of trade in the quarter. An increase in the terms of trade results in less exports being needed to pay for a given volume of imports. This means that residents can purchase more goods and services by volume from the income generated from a given level of domestic production.
The 1.5 percent increase in RGNDI, coupled with a population increase of 0.2 percent over the quarter, resulted in RGNDI per capita increasing 1.2 percent in the quarter.
Annually, RGNDI fell 0.3 percent over the year to December 2024 while RGNDI per capita fell 2.0 percent over the year.
Quarterly nominal expenditure GDP, December 2024 quarter
Seasonally adjusted nominal expenditure GDP rose 1.8 percent in the December 2024 quarter. The size of the economy was $425 billion for the year ended December 2024.
Breakdown of GDP by income
September 2024 |
December 2024 |
Annual average (growth |
|
Compensation of employees |
0.0 |
-0.1 |
4.6 |
Gross operating surplus and gross mixed income |
0.7 |
3.9 |
0.7 |
Taxes on production and imports |
-0.3 |
0.3 |
5.3 |
Less subsidies |
16.4 |
-9.5 |
-0.9 |
Income gross domestic product |
0.2 |
1.7 |
3.0 |
Note: For December 2024 quarter, the measures of average annual growth compare activity over the most recent year YE - year ended |
|||
| Component | Change ($) |
| Compensation of employees | -40000000 |
| Gross operating surplus and gross mixed income | 1706000000 |
| Taxes on production and imports | 44000000 |
| (less) Subsidies | -60000000 |
| Gross domestic product - income measure | 1770000000 |
Nominal income GDP rises
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted nominal price terms.
Nominal GDP evaluates gross domestic product at current prices, without adjusting to account for price changes from inflation.
Nominal income GDP rose 1.7 percent in the December 2024 quarter, following a 0.2 percent rise in the September 2024 quarter. This was driven by an increase of 3.9 percent in gross operating surplus and gross mixed income.
New Zealand and trade partners, December 2024 quarter
Country |
Quarterly % change in GDP, |
% change from same |
New Zealand |
0.7 |
-1.1 |
Australia |
0.6 |
1.3 |
Canada |
0.6 |
2.4 |
China |
1.6 |
5.4 |
Euro area (20 countries) |
0.2 |
1.2 |
European Union (27 countries) |
0.4 |
1.4 |
Japan |
0.6 |
1.2 |
OECD - Total |
0.5 |
1.9 |
United Kingdom |
0.1 |
1.4 |
United States |
0.6 |
2.5 |
Data as at 18 March 2025. See OECD.Stat for GDP data covering other countries. |
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More data
Use Infoshare to access the national accounts time series.
Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: National accounts - SNA 2008
Definitions and metadata
National accounts quarterlies - DataInfo+ provides the general methodology used to produce these statistics.
National accounts quarterlies - concepts - DataInfo+ provides the definitions of terms used in this release.
Gross domestic product: December 2024 quarter - changes and data updates - DataInfo+ has details of data updates for this release.
Overview of sources and methods for quarterly gross domestic product: Updates and COVID-19 adjustments provides an overview of changes to our usual quarterly GDP methods, including alternative data sources and methods we are using to measure the effects of COVID-19 in New Zealand.
About the quarterly income measure of GDP provides more information on the GDPI measure.
National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): Sources and methods (fourth edition) provides the data sources and compilation methods used in estimating GDPI as well as income by institutional sector and saving, assets, and liabilities measures.
Tourism satellite account: Year ended March 2024 provides a picture of the role tourism plays in New Zealand, with information on the changing levels and impact of tourism activity.
Technical enquiries
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ISSN 1178-0290
Next release
Gross domestic product: March 2025 quarter will be released on 19 June 2025.
