The New Zealand economy decreased for the fourth straight quarter in the fourth quarter of 2008 according to a release today by Statistics New Zealand. The GDP report showed that the Gross Domestic Product declined by 0.9 
percent in the October to December quarter following a GDP decline in the third quarter by 0.4 percent. On an annual basis, the GDP declined by 1.1 percent over the fourth quarter of 2008 following an annual decline of 0.1 percent in the third quarter.
Economic forecasts had expected that the GDP would decline by 1.1 percent for the fourth quarter and by 2.0 percent annually over the fourth quarter of 2007.
The fourth quarter GDP was the lowest quarterly reading since the December of 2000 quarter when the GDP contracted by 0.8 percent. Contributing negatively to the GDP decline for the quarter was a decrease of 3.8 percent in the manufacturing sector.
A separate report by New Zealand Statistics showed that exports and imports declined in February compared to February of 2008. Exports fell by 6.6 percent on an annual basis over the February 2008 level and marked the first annual decline since August 2007. Imports decreased by 14.2 percent on an annual basis and registered the largest decline in 16 years in February. Contributing to the lower imports was a decrease in oil imports by 70.1 percent.
New Zealand’s trade balance registered a surplus of $489 million NZ dollars in February.
The report also commented on the New Zealand currency stating, “The New Zealand exchange rate as measured by the Reserve Bank’s Trade Weighted Index (TWI) has fallen 28.3 percent since February 2008.”
More information on the NZ TWI can be found here.
