2023.01.2921:18:00UTC+00New Zealand Has NZ$475 Million Trade Deficit

New Zealand posted a merchandise trade deficit of NZ$475 million in December, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.

That beat forecasts for a shortfall of NZ$1.750 billion following the downwardly revised NZ$2.180 billion deficit in November (originally NZ$1,863 million).

Exports rose 11 percent on year to NZ$6.72 billion, down from the downwardly revised NZ$6.34 billion in the previous month (originally NZ$ NZ$6.68 billion).

Imports climbed an annual 1.8 percent to NZ$7.19 billion following the downwardly revised NZ$8.52 billion a month earlier (originally NZ$8.54 billion).

For the fourth quarter of 2022, goods exports fell 3.2 percent (NZ$618 million), following a 7.5 percent rise in Q3. Goods imports fell 1.1 percent (NZ$258 million), following a 11 percent rise in Q3. The quarterly trade balance was a deficit of NZ$4.2 billion.

For all of 2022, annual goods exports were at $72.2 billion, up NZ$8.7 billion from the previous year. Annual goods imports were at NZ$86.7 billion, up NZ$16.1 billion from the previous year. The annual trade deficit was NZ$14.5 billion.