New Zealand's trade balance was a deficit of $1.4 billion in the March 2024 quarter, narrowing from a deficit of $2.6 billion in the March 2023 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
"The smaller trade deficit is being driven by a decrease in imports more than a large increase in exports. Travel exports especially only had a modest increase and have not yet returned to historic levels for March quarters," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said.
"March quarters since 2021 have been marked by lower travel exports than previously. This makes an interesting contrast with exports of our other main commodity, milk powder, butter, and cheese, which have remained consistent over this period."
| Quarter | "Milk powder | Travel |
| Mar-15 | butter | 4313079076 |
| Jun-15 | and cheese" | 2880706248 |
| Sep-15 | 3304996933 | 2813997315 |
| Dec-15 | 2581346242 | 3429302110 |
| Mar-16 | 2162015509 | 4944319012 |
| Jun-16 | 3473111894 | 3040893217 |
| Sep-16 | 3062835765 | 2659276869 |
| Dec-16 | 2464187624 | 3476772986 |
| Mar-17 | 1931210251 | 4945070879 |
| Jun-17 | 3733645209 | 3319571628 |
| Sep-17 | 3418271146 | 2883702691 |
| Dec-17 | 3423347841 | 3775425730 |
| Mar-18 | 2515367303 | 5361426457 |
| Jun-18 | 4611758054 | 3610623584 |
| Sep-18 | 3623620610 | 2858715841 |
| Dec-18 | 3394440523 | 3886055481 |
| Mar-19 | 2748900028 | 5450128487 |
| Jun-19 | 4480655388 | 3544513946 |
| Sep-19 | 4170582116 | 2969318144 |
| Dec-19 | 3687098266 | 4023571598 |
| Mar-20 | 2664310455 | 5376276889 |
| Jun-20 | 5233036161 | 1338394313 |
| Sep-20 | 4505345802 | 1103656371 |
| Dec-20 | 4158577821 | 1050693324 |
| Mar-21 | 2440537581 | 1072065405 |
| Jun-21 | 4560555035 | 1373396072 |
| Sep-21 | 4149096181 | 851252334 |
| Dec-21 | 4517408254 | 755523184 |
| Mar-22 | 2910362203 | 786026304 |
| Jun-22 | 5463032989 | 1196783187 |
| Sep-22 | 5084092035 | 1654970130 |
| Dec-22 | 4772247929 | 2539674712 |
| Mar-23 | 4347022857 | 3661432739 |
| Jun-23 | 6251247133 | 2754294351 |
| Sep-23 | 5069060149 | 2864239717 |
| Dec-23 | 5537762861 | 3661554885 |
| Mar-24 | 3382473341 | 4244049467 |
Travel exports cover goods and services expenditure in New Zealand by overseas travellers.
In the March 2024 quarter, Australia was New Zealand's largest trading partner for travel services. However, travel exports to Australia fell $49 million to $778 million compared with the March 2023 quarter.
| Quarter | Exports | Imports |
| Mar-15 | 795207557 | 428736411 |
| Jun-15 | 496050234 | 506633171 |
| Sep-15 | 605181545 | 581621483 |
| Dec-15 | 591585170 | 584176330 |
| Mar-16 | 865459350 | 434012946 |
| Jun-16 | 471143144 | 517308133 |
| Sep-16 | 560830575 | 586802442 |
| Dec-16 | 627041450 | 595347344 |
| Mar-17 | 795433040 | 459488483 |
| Jun-17 | 547397184 | 529070956 |
| Sep-17 | 635885278 | 587020258 |
| Dec-17 | 644837839 | 622613812 |
| Mar-18 | 819843861 | 484039586 |
| Jun-18 | 549892803 | 522862882 |
| Sep-18 | 593524867 | 616996524 |
| Dec-18 | 662274171 | 613084047 |
| Mar-19 | 877721617 | 561944269 |
| Jun-19 | 528325769 | 577000660 |
| Sep-19 | 650659945 | 624849279 |
| Dec-19 | 730838870 | 646832928 |
| Mar-20 | 1027723512 | 495627914 |
| Jun-20 | 107747738 | 33651142 |
| Sep-20 | 93772985 | 31721735 |
| Dec-20 | 93767400 | 35241372 |
| Mar-21 | 96640502 | 29875483 |
| Jun-21 | 421389656 | 139540471 |
| Sep-21 | 208414949 | 73269526 |
| Dec-21 | 139310783 | 23046229 |
| Mar-22 | 164088036 | 85132936 |
| Jun-22 | 502038273 | 247568497 |
| Sep-22 | 732178154 | 381488493 |
| Dec-22 | 817254639 | 434293992 |
| Mar-23 | 826658323 | 400565170 |
| Jun-23 | 557035131 | 464558745 |
| Sep-23 | 633677260 | 514914707 |
| Dec-23 | 721093427 | 552372640 |
| Mar-24 | 777538944 | 563596543 |
The number of visitors from Australia in the March 2024 quarter was 11 percent lower than the March 2019 quarter, before the COVID-19 border restrictions.
| March quarter | Overseas visitor arrivals | NZ-resident traveller arrivals |
| 2018 | 398256 | 282553 |
| 2019 | 394715 | 294344 |
| 2020 | 347979 | 267453 |
| 2021 | 3304 | 2927 |
| 2022 | 19861 | 17190 |
| 2023 | 316665 | 200524 |
| 2024 | 351206 | 299973 |
"The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently reported that Australians' top travel destination is Indonesia, which has overtaken New Zealand for the first time," Allen said.
International travel: March 2024 has more information on the number and characteristics of overseas visitors and New Zealand resident travellers (short-term movements) entering or leaving New Zealand.
Goods imports decrease
Total goods imports values (not seasonally adjusted), as measured by the overseas trade index (OTI), fell by 14.0 percent annually in the March 2024 quarter to $17.05 billion.
| Month | Total goods imports values in billion dollars |
| Mar-20 | 13.79 |
| Jun-20 | 12.04 |
| Sep-20 | 13.63 |
| Dec-20 | 14.73 |
| Mar-21 | 14 |
| Jun-21 | 15.17 |
| Sep-21 | 17.97 |
| Dec-21 | 19.01 |
| Mar-22 | 17.46 |
| Jun-22 | 18.23 |
| Sep-22 | 22.26 |
| Dec-22 | 22.16 |
| Mar-23 | 19.82 |
| Jun-23 | 18.55 |
| Sep-23 | 19.95 |
| Dec-23 | 19.55 |
| Mar-24 | 17.05 |
| Month | Total goods imports volumes index numbers |
| Mar-20 | 2261 |
| Jun-20 | 1974 |
| Sep-20 | 2322 |
| Dec-20 | 2557 |
| Mar-21 | 2449 |
| Jun-21 | 2532 |
| Sep-21 | 2881 |
| Dec-21 | 2938 |
| Mar-22 | 2519 |
| Jun-22 | 2478 |
| Sep-22 | 2824 |
| Dec-22 | 2870 |
| Mar-23 | 2688 |
| Jun-23 | 2529 |
| Sep-23 | 2743 |
| Dec-23 | 2590 |
| Mar-24 | 2382 |
The fall in import values was driven by an 11.4 percent annual fall in volumes, while prices fell by 2.9 percent.
There were annual falls in key import categories. Petroleum and petroleum products volumes fell by 20.2 percent annually, while transport equipment volumes fell 33.1 percent from March 2023 to March 2024. Non-fuel crude material prices fell 11.6 percent annually.
| Category | Volumes | Prices |
| Petroleum and petroleum products | -20.2 | -9.4 |
| Non-fuel crude materials | 3.7 | -11.6 |
| Iron and steel | 1.6 | -8.8 |
| Mechanical machinery | -11 | 0.7 |
| Electrical machinery and apparatus | -7.4 | -2.6 |
| Transport equipment | -33.1 | 1.6 |
