Record monthly trade deficit for January – Media release
27 February 2019
In January 2019, New Zealand had its largest goods deficit for any January month on record ($914 million), Stats NZ said today.
“Both imports and exports were up compared with January 2018. However, this month’s large trade deficit reflects that imports are rising much faster than exports,” international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said.
The previous record was an $894 million deficit in January 2006. As two-way goods trade (imports + exports) has almost doubled since January 2006, the January 2019 deficit as a percentage of two-way trade is smaller than it was 13 years ago. The latest month’s deficit is equal to 9.0 percent of two-way trade, compared with 17 percent in 2006.
While there was a large deficit in January, monthly deficits typically peak at even higher levels in August and September, when dairy exports are relatively low.
In January 2019, imports rose $379 million (7.7 percent) from January 2018, to reach $5.3 billion. Exports were up $128 million (3.0 percent), to reach $4.4 billion.
The increase in imports was spread across a range of commodities, with petroleum and products leading the rise – up $81 million (13 percent) from January 2018, to $725 million. Crude oil was up $39 million and diesel up $34 million.
Imports from all our top import partners increased; the largest rises were from China (up $139 million) and the European Union (up $107 million).
Exports
The rise in exports was led by milk powder, butter, and cheese – up $167 million to $1.5 billion. Exports of milk powder, butter and cheese to China (our main export destination for dairy) rose $9.1 million from January 2018, to reach $200 million.
Milk powder exports were up $120 million, mainly due to increased exports to Bangladesh and Thailand.
Milk fats (including butter) were also up, by $55 million.
“The increases in both milk powder and milk fats were driven by increased export quantities,” Mr Islam said.
“Milk powder prices were similar to January 2018, while milk fat prices fell.”
The largest fall in exports was for meat and edible offal, down $66 million in January 2019 from January 2018. Lamb exports were down $26 million, while beef exports fell $28 million.
Exports of lamb to the EU were at their lowest January value since 2006. The fall in beef exports was partly due to a fall to the United States.
However, China (another large market for meat and edible offal) had increases in both lamb and beef.
More high-strength beer available in 2018 – Stats NZ Media and Information Release: Alcohol available for consumption: Year ended December 2018
More high-strength beer available in 2018 – Media release
26 February 2019
The volume of high-strength beer (above 5 percent alcohol) available for consumption has almost trebled in five years – rising 21 percent in 2018 alone, Stats NZ said today.
This rise was partly offset by a fall in lower-strength beers available to the domestic market in 2018. As a result, the overall amount of beer available in 2018 was only up 1.4 percent, recovering from a 1.2 percent fall the previous year, indicating a near-flat market over two years.
“The volume of high-strength beer rose for the fifth year in a row in 2018,” international statistics manager Tehseen Islam said. “This volume increase partly reflects the rising popularity of craft beers.”
The volume of high-strength beer reached 35 million litres in 2018, accounting for more than 10 percent of all beer available.
Beer with an alcohol content from 4.35 percent to 5 percent also rose, up 5.5 percent. In contrast, traditional mid-strength and low-strength beer volumes both fell in 2018, down 7.3 percent and 6.1 percent respectively from the previous year.
Of the total volume of beer available for consumption in New Zealand, 83 percent was made in New Zealand and 17 percent imported.
Spirits rise for fourth successive year
Spirits and spirt-based drinks (such as ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages) are among the fastest growing sectors in the alcoholic drinks market.
The total volume of spirits (including spirit-based drinks such as RTDs) rose 4.9 percent, following similar rises in each of the previous three years.
The volume of traditional spirits (such as whisky, gin, and vodka) rose 5.5 percent from 2017, and the volume of spirit-based drinks rose 4.8 percent.
Wine falls in 2018
The total volume of wine available to the domestic market fell 1.3 percent in 2018, following a rise of 1.5 percent in 2017.
The volume of wine made from grapes fell 2.6 percent in 2018. In contrast, wine made from other fruit and vegetables (mostly cider) rose 5.9 percent on 2017.
Standard drinks per person
The total volume of alcohol in alcoholic beverages available for consumption, expressed as the number of standard drinks available per person a day, was little changed in 2018 – down 0.6 percent to the second-lowest level in the last 18 years.
In 2018, there was enough alcohol for each adult New Zealander to drink the equivalent of 2.0 standard drinks a day, down from a recent peak of 2.2 in 2010.
“In 2010, the average adult would have had about 800 standard drinks available to consume. By 2018, that was down to about 730 a year,” Mr Islam said.
We compile alcohol statistics from figures on alcoholic beverages produced for local consumption, on which duty is paid, and imports less re-exports. The statistics provide information on the volume of alcoholic beverages released to the domestic market, and therefore what is available for consumption, rather than actual consumption. The statistics for alcohol available per head of population are based on the quarterly estimates of resident population.
Retail spending in pharmacies and hospitality boost December sales – Stats NZ Media and Information Release: Retail trade survey: December 2018 quarter
Retail spending in pharmacies and hospitality boost December sales – Media release
25 February 2019
Robust spending on pharmaceuticals, duty-free goods, and food services boosted overall spending in the December 2018 quarter after a subdued September quarter, Stats NZ said today.
After adjusting for price and seasonal effects, total retail sales volume rose 1.7 percent in the December 2018 quarter after a modest 0.3 percent rise in the September 2018 quarter.
Sales volumes grew a record 8.2 percent for pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing, and a record 4.2 percent for food and beverage services in the December 2018 quarter. However, these large increases followed sizeable falls in the September 2018 quarter for both industry groups.
The pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing industry includes sales from chemists (such as cosmetics and medicine products), health supplement stores, duty-free stores, pet shops, and stationery goods outlets.
“We’ve seen increases in a number of store-types in this category,” retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said.
“Increased visitor numbers to New Zealand could be a factor in higher sales for both of these industries, such as sales for duty-free outlets and food service operators,” Ms Chapman added.
More than half a million visitors arrived in New Zealand in December 2018, breaking the previous December 2017 monthly record (see December visitor numbers reach new heights).
Sales values lifted by hospitality and food groups
When the effects of price changes are included, the seasonally adjusted value of total retail sales rose 1.8 percent ($432 million) in the December 2018 quarter, after a 0.8 percent ($192 million) rise in the September 2018 quarter.
Of the 11 industries to record higher sale values, the top four increases mostly came from the hospitality and food industries:
- food and beverage services, up 5.0 percent, ($143 million)
- pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing, up 10.2 percent ($142 million)
- supermarket and grocery stores, up 1.7 percent ($89 million)
- accommodation industry, up 3.8 percent ($40 million).
The combined value of the two food-related industries contributed more than 40 percent to the core retail (excluding vehicles and fuel) total. Supermarket and grocery stores are the largest group accounting for 28 percent, and food and beverage made up a further 16 percent of the core total sales.
In actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $26.3 billion in the December 2018 quarter, up 4.5 percent ($1.1 billion) on the December 2017 quarter.
Electricity in the spotlight – corrected – Stats NZ Media and Information Release: Business price indexes: December 2018 quarter – corrected
Electricity in the spotlight – corrected – Media release
22 February 2019
We have corrected the output price figure from 0.8 to 0.7 percent in the last paragraph of this story since it was first published on 20 February 2019. We have also corrected Business price indexes: December 2018 quarter.
Stats NZ is an open and transparent organisation and corrects errors as soon as practicable. We have rigorous processes to check data before publication. We review any error to reduce and mitigate future risks. We regret the error and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
The electricity and gas supply industry has seen a spike in producer input and output prices over the December 2018 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
Prices paid by electricity and gas supply producers rose 23 percent for the December 2018 quarter. Prices received by the industry also increased 18 percent over the same period.
“Contributing factors included lake levels being lower than average, and the Pohokura gas field outage, which meant less resources were available for electricity generation. The industry hasn’t seen increases of this magnitude since the power crisis of 2008,” business prices manager Sarah Johnson said.
Commercial electricity prices for businesses increased 8.2 percent over the December 2018 quarter. Businesses on spot price contracts (the wholesale market), particularly the large consumers of electricity, were the key drivers of this increase. High spot prices over the quarter reflected decreased resources for electricity generation.
Spot price electricity markets do not fully feed into prices received by producers and paid by customers. This is due to hedging, industrial customer response (eg cutting back demand at peak-price hours), and transmission charges. Hedging is used to manage price volatility. Hedging options for electricity purchasers include contracts and fixed pricing for agreed volumes.
Electricity is a production input for industries – from farms to factories. The farm expenses price index measures price changes for inputs across various farm types. Electricity prices for dairy farms increased 6.1 percent over the December 2018 quarter. They increased 5.1 percent for all farm types – slightly lower than fertiliser and shearing costs at 7.0 and 5.2 percent respectively.
Electricity prices reported in Consumers price index: December 2018 quarter decreased slightly (down 0.2 percent). In general, electricity retailers do not pass on wholesale pricing to households, unless they are on a spot price contract (around 1 percent of households).
Overall, input prices for businesses showed a relatively strong increase (up 1.6 percent), while output prices increased moderately (up 0.7 percent).
Labour productivity growth eases – Stats NZ Media and Information Release: Productivity statistics: 1978–2018
Labour productivity growth eases – Media release
21 February 2019
New Zealand’s labour productivity rose 0.3 percent in the year ended March 2018, Stats NZ said today.
This is the second consecutive year labour productivity growth has eased.
Labour productivity measures the quantity of goods and services (output) produced per hour of labour.
“Labour productivity growth slowed for the second year in a row due to a combination of an above-average increase to labour inputs and softening output growth,” national accounts senior manager Gary Dunnet said.
Labour productivity is one of the three major productivity measures produced – the other two are multifactor productivity and capital productivity. Both multifactor and capital productivity also rose 0.3 percent in the year ended March 2018. Multifactor productivity captures the effects of unobserved inputs such as technological progress, efficiency gains, and economies of scale.
Labour productivity growth was strongest in the primary industries, which were up 2.7 percent in the year ended March 2018, while service industries were up 0.5 percent for the year. Labour productivity for goods-producing industries fell 0.9 percent over the year.
In theory, productivity measures should cover all industries in the economy. The industry coverage of these statistics includes only the ‘measured sector’ (ie mainly market industries). However, this still covers about 80 percent of industry’s contribution to New Zealand’s gross domestic product.
Measuring child poverty – Stats NZ Methods release
20 February 2019
Today Stats NZ released background papers on some key concepts and definitions that will be used to measure child poverty in the future.
The Child Poverty Reduction Act was introduced in 2018 to help achieve a significant and sustained reduction in child poverty in New Zealand. The Act requires the Government Statistician to independently set concepts and definitions for child poverty measurement, in addition to those already prescribed in the Act.
Measuring child poverty: Concepts and definitions explains the terms we will use in calculating child poverty measures in New Zealand.
This document is accompanied by three papers that set out the reasons we made particular aspects of the decisions about the concepts and definitions.
These papers are:
- Measuring child poverty: Material hardship
- Measuring child poverty: Equivalence scale
- Measuring child poverty: Fixed-line measure.
Expanding the Household Economic Survey to obtain good measures of child poverty outlines the design of the 2018/19 survey, which collects data to measure child poverty.
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21 February
Productivity statistics: 1978–2018
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25 February
Retail trade survey: December 2018 quarter
View recent Retail trade survey: December 2018 quarter releases
26 February
Alcohol available for consumption: Year ended December 2018
View recent Alcohol available for consumption releases
27 February
Overseas merchandise trade: January 2019
View recent Overseas merchandise trade releases
27 February
Wealth and income – news story
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Electricity in the spotlight – Stats NZ Media and Information Release: Business price indexes: December 2018 quarter
Electricity in the spotlight – Media release
20 February 2019
The electricity and gas supply industry has seen a spike in producer input and output prices over the December 2018 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
Prices paid by electricity and gas supply producers rose 23 percent for the December 2018 quarter. Prices received by the industry also increased 18 percent over the same period.
“Contributing factors included lake levels being lower than average, and the Pohokura gas field outage, which meant less resources were available for electricity generation. The industry hasn’t seen increases of this magnitude since the power crisis of 2008,” business prices manager Sarah Johnson said.
Commercial electricity prices for businesses increased 8.2 percent over the December 2018 quarter. Businesses on spot price contracts (the wholesale market), particularly the large consumers of electricity, were the key drivers of this increase. High spot prices over the quarter reflected decreased resources for electricity generation.
Spot price electricity markets do not fully feed into prices received by producers and paid by customers. This is due to hedging, industrial customer response (eg cutting back demand at peak-price hours), and transmission charges. Hedging is used to manage price volatility. Hedging options for electricity purchasers include contracts and fixed pricing for agreed volumes.
Electricity is a production input for industries – from farms to factories. The farm expenses price index measures price changes for inputs across various farm types. Electricity prices for dairy farms increased 6.1 percent over the December 2018 quarter. They increased 5.1 percent for all farm types – slightly lower than fertiliser and shearing costs at 7.0 and 5.2 percent respectively.
Electricity prices reported in Consumers price index: December 2018 quarter decreased slightly (down 0.2 percent). In general, electricity retailers do not pass on wholesale pricing to households, unless they are on a spot price contract (around 1 percent of households).
Overall, input prices for businesses showed a relatively strong increase (up 1.6 percent), while output prices increased moderately (up 0.8 percent).
New guidance for collecting data about sexual identity – Stats NZ Media Release
New guidance for collecting data about sexual identity – Media release
19 February 2019
Introducing a statistical standard for sexual identity and a framework for sexual orientation is an important step in ensuring all New Zealanders can see themselves in official statistics, Stats NZ said today.
“We’ve been working hard for to meet what we know is a strong demand to record and present data on sexual identity, so it’s great to see this new guidance released today,” products, services and insights general manager Dean Rutherford said.
Information on sexual identity is already collected in surveys like the General Social Survey and the NZ Health Survey. However, the new statistical standard will help make future collections more consistent and comparable. This will lead to practical benefits.
“We know, for example, that young people belonging to sexual minorities are more likely to experience bullying, and to have limited access to mental health care. To address these issues, policy-makers need access to high-quality, timely, and accurate data,” Mr Rutherford said.
In April 2018 a public consultation on the proposed standard and framework attracted over 900 submissions.
“The level of public interest in the consultation underlined the importance of this work. We acknowledge that people have very personal feelings about how they identify sexually, and we have produced this guidance with that in mind,” Mr Rutherford said.
“The aim of the standard is to make it easier for people to ask the right questions at the right time, and in the right way. We are confident that our guidance will do that.”
The statistical standard for sexual identity sits alongside the existing statistical standards for gender identity and sex.
Both standards will be reviewed in the near future to ensure their ongoing relevance.
Stats NZ is grateful for the input of many individuals and groups, and for assistance from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development, and the State Services Commission in developing the new statistical standard for sexual identity.
New Zealand abridged period life table: 2016–18 (provisional) – Stats NZ Information Release
New Zealand abridged period life table: 2016–18 (provisional) – Information release
19 February 2019
Life tables are a basic demographic tool for analysing mortality and survival. They show death and survivorship rates at each age of life.
Key facts
Based on death rates in New Zealand for 2016–18:
- Life expectancy at birth is 83.6 years for females and 80.2 years for males.
- Life expectancy at age 65 is 21.7 years for females and 19.6 years for males.