New Zealand Trade Gap Narrows In September

(RTTNews) - New Zealand's trade deficit narrowed in September on a rebound in exports, data from Statistics New Zealand showed on Tuesday.

The trade deficit fell to NZ$2.11 billion in September from NZ$2.31 billion in August. In the same period last year, the deficit was NZ$2.4 billion.

On a yearly basis, exports advanced 5.2 percent from a year ago, in contrast to the 2.5 percent fall in August. The increase was driven by higher shipment of fruits, milk products and wood articles.

At the same time, the decline in imports eased to 0.9 percent from 1.2 percent.

In the September quarter, goods exports fell 0.5 percent sequentially, while imports gained 2.4 percent. As a result, the trade deficit widened to NZ$2.8 billion from NZ$2.3 billion in the preceding quarter.

Further, in the year ended September 2024, the trade deficit declined sharply to NZ$9.1 billion from NZ$15.4 billion in the previous year due to the 8.4 percent fall in imports. Exports posted an annual fall of 1.2 percent.