The seasonally adjusted current account deficit was $0.4 billion in the September 2020 quarter, compared with last quarter's record surplus of $0.6 billion, Stats NZ said today.
The main contributor to the deficit was the rise in goods imports of $1.1 billion, following the fall in the June 2020 quarter.
"The rise in goods imports was mainly driven by an increase in car imports," international statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said.
On an annual basis, New Zealand's current account deficit for the September 2020 year narrowed to $2.6 billion, compared with a deficit of $11.7 billion in the September 2019 year.
Quarter | Current account balance |
Sep-2018 | -2846000000 |
Dec-2018 | -3099000000 |
Mar-2019 | -2955000000 |
Jun-2019 | -2757000000 |
Sep-2019 | -2856000000 |
Dec-2019 | -1969000000 |
Mar-2020 | -1389000000 |
Jun-2020 | 571000000 |
Sep-2020 | -438000000 |
The services balance returned to surplus in the September 2020 quarter. This was due to a $270 million rise in services exports and a $304 million fall in services imports.
"While travel and transportation services trade have fallen since border restrictions were imposed in March, our other top services have remained steady, now making up a larger proportion of the total," Mr Dolan said.
Exports of travel and transportation services include spending by overseas visitors and students in New Zealand as well as airfares and cargo costs.
Quarter | Sep-2016 | Sep-2017 | Sep-2018 | Sep-2019 | Sep-2020 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transportation | 627000000 | 680000000 | 739000000 | 753000000 | 308000000 | ||
Travel | 2659000000 | 2884000000 | 2859000000 | 2969000000 | 1472000000 | ||
Charges for the use of intellectual property | 175000000 | 231000000 | 294000000 | 293000000 | 335000000 | ||
"Telecommunications | computer | and information services" | 258000000 | 261000000 | 282000000 | 384000000 | 409000000 |
Other business services | 451000000 | 472000000 | 483000000 | 521000000 | 529000000 | ||
All other services | 554000000 | 576000000 | 608000000 | 570000000 | 385000000 |
Imports of travel and transportation services include money spent overseas by New Zealand visitors and students as well as airfares and cargo costs.
Quarter | Sep-2016 | Sep-2017 | Sep-2018 | Sep-2019 | Sep-2020 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Transportation | 985000000 | 1076000000 | 1252000000 | 1297000000 | 682000000 | ||
Travel | 1703000000 | 1846000000 | 2023000000 | 1988000000 | 324000000 | ||
Insurance and pension services | 274000000 | 317000000 | 458000000 | 536000000 | 473000000 | ||
"Telecommunications | computer | and information services" | 369000000 | 383000000 | 464000000 | 580000000 | 582000000 |
Other business services | 765000000 | 798000000 | 862000000 | 1076000000 | 1027000000 | ||
All other services | 664000000 | 758000000 | 807000000 | 888000000 | 811000000 |
Travel and transportation services combined contributed 52 percent of total services exports and just over a quarter of services imports in the September 2020 quarter. Other business services (for example, management fees paid by overseas-owned companies) made up 15 percent of total services exports, now the second largest contributor as travel and transportation services declined. On the imports side, other business services (mainly management fees and advertising) made up over a quarter of total services imports, now the top contributor.
In comparison, in the September 2019 quarter, before COVID-19, travel and transportation services combined made up 68 percent of total services exports and just over half of total services imports.