Gross domestic product (GDP) provides a snapshot of the performance of the economy. GDP is New Zealand's official measure of economic growth.
Key facts
All movements are in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms (adjusted for price inflation) unless otherwise stated.
In the March 2025 quarter, compared with the December 2024 quarter:
- GDP rose 0.8 percent
- expenditure on GDP rose 0.9 percent
- GDP per capita rose 0.5 percent
- real gross national disposable income rose 0.5 percent.
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted nominal terms (not adjusted for price inflation).
In the March 2025 quarter, compared with the December 2024 quarter:
- expenditure on GDP rose 2.0 percent
- income GDP rose 1.9 percent.
New Zealand economy up in March 2025 quarter
Economic activity rose 0.8 percent in the March 2025 quarter as measured by gross domestic product. This follows a 0.5 percent rise in the December 2024 quarter. GDP fell 1.1 percent over the year ended March 2025 compared with the year ended March 2024.
Expenditure on GDP rose 0.9 percent in the March 2025 quarter, following a 0.6 percent rise in the December 2024 quarter. Expenditure on GDP fell 0.9 percent over the year ended March 2025 compared with the year ended March 2024.
| Quarter | Quarterly growth (%) |
| Dec-18 | 1.5 |
| Mar-19 | 0.9 |
| Jun-19 | 0 |
| Sep-19 | 0.8 |
| Dec-19 | 1 |
| Mar-20 | -1.1 |
| Jun-20 | -10.4 |
| Sep-20 | 14.1 |
| Dec-20 | 0.4 |
| Mar-21 | 2.1 |
| Jun-21 | 0.9 |
| Sep-21 | -4.2 |
| Dec-21 | 4 |
| Mar-22 | -0.1 |
| Jun-22 | 1.1 |
| Sep-22 | 2.1 |
| Dec-22 | 0 |
| Mar-23 | -0.2 |
| Jun-23 | 0.8 |
| Sep-23 | 0.2 |
| Dec-23 | 0.2 |
| Mar-24 | 0.1 |
| Jun-24 | -1 |
| Sep-24 | -1 |
| Dec-24 | 0.5 |
| Mar-25 | 0.8 |
| Quarter | Annual growth (%) |
| Dec-18 | 3.5 |
| Mar-19 | 3.5 |
| Jun-19 | 3.2 |
| Sep-19 | 3.3 |
| Dec-19 | 3 |
| Mar-20 | 2.3 |
| Jun-20 | -0.7 |
| Sep-20 | -1 |
| Dec-20 | -1.3 |
| Mar-21 | -0.3 |
| Jun-21 | 6.2 |
| Sep-21 | 5.3 |
| Dec-21 | 5.6 |
| Mar-22 | 4.5 |
| Jun-22 | 0.7 |
| Sep-22 | 2.7 |
| Dec-22 | 2.9 |
| Mar-23 | 3.5 |
| Jun-23 | 4 |
| Sep-23 | 2.4 |
| Dec-23 | 1.8 |
| Mar-24 | 1.4 |
| Jun-24 | 0.6 |
| Sep-24 | 0 |
| Dec-24 | -0.6 |
| Mar-25 | -1.1 |
Growth and contribution to growth by industry group, March 2025 quarter
The following three graphs show the growth, contribution to growth, and economic share of the primary, goods-producing, and services industries to GDP for the March 2025 quarter. Click the Table tabs to see all the values.
| Industry group | Growth (%) |
| Primary | 0.8 |
| Goods-producing | 1.3 |
| Services | 0.4 |
| Industry group | Contribution (%) |
| Primary | 0.04 |
| Goods-producing | 0.24 |
| Services | 0.27 |
| Industry group | Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Primary | 5.8 |
| Goods-producing | 20.6 |
| Services | 73.6 |
| Industry | Change ($) |
| "Agriculture | 30000000 |
| forestry | 5000000 |
| and fishing" | 129000000 |
| Mining | -1000000 |
| Manufacturing | 19000000 |
| "Electricity | -18000000 |
| gas | 12000000 |
| water | 26000000 |
| and waste services" | -21000000 |
| Construction | -16000000 |
| Wholesale trade | -13000000 |
| Retail trade and accommodation | 197000000 |
| "Transport | 2000000 |
| postal | -2000000 |
| and warehousing" | 69000000 |
| "Information | -45000000 |
| media | |
| and telecommunications" | |
| Financial and insurance services | |
| "Rental | |
| hiring | |
| and real estate services" | |
| Business services | |
| "Public admin | |
| safety | |
| and defence" | |
| Education and training | |
| Health care and social assistance | |
| "Arts | |
| recreation | |
| and other services" |
| Component | Change ($) |
| Household consumption expenditure | 601000000 |
| Private consumption expenditure | 597000000 |
| General government expenditure | 154000000 |
| Change in inventories | -201000000 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 99000000 |
| Gross national expenditure | 240000000 |
| Exports of goods and services | 15000000 |
| (less) Imports of goods and services | 86000000 |
| Expenditure on gross domestic product | 665000000 |
Upwards drivers - change in expenditure
Household consumption expenditure was up 1.4 percent, driven by:
- spending on services, including cultural services; other digital services imports; and accommodation services
- spending on durable goods, including new motor vehicles; used motor vehicles; and clothing.
Central government final consumption expenditure was up 1.4 percent, driven by:
- a decrease in sales (a decrease in sales has an upwards contribution to the overall movement)
- compensation of employees.
Downwards drivers - change in expenditure
The change in inventories decreased by $201 million in the March 2025 quarter, driven by distribution.
New Zealand's real purchasing power rises in the March 2025 quarter
In the March 2025 quarter, compared with the December 2024 quarter:
- real gross national disposable income rose 0.5 percent
- real gross national disposable income per capita rose 0.2 percent.
In the year ended March 2025, compared with the year ended March 2024:
- annual real gross national disposable income fell 0.5 percent
- annual real gross national disposable income per capita fell 1.8 percent.
While GDP measures economic activity, real gross national disposable income (RGNDI) measures the volumes of goods and services that New Zealand residents have command over, that is, the real purchasing power of the country's disposable income. RGNDI is also affected by changes in the terms of trade, the country's net investment income, and net transfer flows with the rest of the world.
New Zealand's ability to buy goods and services from its income, RGNDI, was up, at 0.5 percent in the March 2025 quarter. Economic activity and the terms of trade increased, while net transfer flows and net investment income on our international investments decreased.
Over the March 2025 quarter, export prices rose 7.1 percent, while import prices rose 5.1 percent, increasing the terms of trade in the quarter. An increase in the terms of trade results in less exports being needed to pay for a given volume of imports. This means that residents can purchase more goods and services by volume from the income generated from a given level of domestic production.
The 0.5 percent increase in RGNDI, coupled with a population increase of 0.3 percent over the quarter, led to a 0.2 percent increase in RGNDI per capita for the quarter.
Annually, RGNDI fell 0.5 percent over the year to March 2025, while RGNDI per capita fell 1.8 percent over the year.
New Zealand and trade partners, March 2025 quarter
Country |
Quarterly % change in GDP, |
% change from same |
New Zealand |
0.8 |
-0.7 |
Australia |
0.2 |
1.3 |
Canada |
0.5 |
2.3 |
China |
1.2 |
5.4 |
Euro area (20 countries) |
0.6 |
1.5 |
European Union (27 countries) |
0.6 |
1.6 |
Japan |
0.0 |
1.7 |
OECD - Total |
0.3 |
1.7 |
United Kingdom |
0.7 |
1.3 |
United States |
-0.1 |
2.1 |
Data as at 17 June 2025. See OECD.Stat for GDP data covering other countries. Stats NZ publishes both 'average annual growth' and 'year-on-year' (change from same For more information on average annual growth and year on year growth, see DataInfo+. |
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Quarterly nominal expenditure GDP, March 2025 quarter
The following movements are in seasonally adjusted nominal terms (not adjusted for price inflation) unless otherwise stated.
Seasonally adjusted nominal expenditure GDP rose 2.0 percent in the March 2025 quarter. The size of the economy was $430 billion for the year ended March 2025.
Breakdown of GDP by income
December 2024 |
March 2025 |
Annual average (growth |
|
Compensation of employees |
-0.2 |
1.5 |
3.2 |
Gross operating surplus and gross mixed income |
4.5 |
2.0 |
2.2 |
Taxes on production and imports |
0.9 |
2.7 |
5.5 |
Less subsidies |
-9.3 |
-1.2 |
-2.9 |
Income gross domestic product |
2.0 |
1.9 |
3.1 |
Note: For March 2025 quarter, the measures of average annual growth compare activity over the most recent year YE - year ended |
|||
| Component | $ |
| Compensation of employees | -40000000 |
| Gross operating surplus and gross mixed income | 1706000000 |
| Taxes on production and imports | 44000000 |
| (less) Subsidies | -60000000 |
| Gross domestic product - income measure | 1770000000 |
Nominal income GDP rises
Nominal income GDP rose 1.9 percent in the March 2025 quarter, following a 2.0 percent rise in the December 2024 quarter. The drivers were:
- gross operating surplus and gross mixed income, up 2.0 percent
- compensation of employees, up 1.5 percent
- taxes on production and imports, up 2.7 percent.
More data
Use Infoshare to access the national accounts time series.
Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: National accounts - SNA 2008
Definitions and metadata
National accounts quarterlies - DataInfo+ provides the general methodology used to produce these statistics.
National accounts quarterlies - concepts - DataInfo+ provides the definitions of terms used in this release.
Gross domestic product: March 2025 quarter - changes and data updates - DataInfo+ has details of data updates for this release.
Overview of sources and methods for quarterly gross domestic product: Updates and COVID-19 adjustments provides an overview of changes to our usual quarterly GDP methods, including alternative data sources and methods we are using to measure the effects of COVID-19 in New Zealand.
About the quarterly income measure of GDP provides more information on the GDPI measure.
National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): Sources and methods (fourth edition) provides the data sources and compilation methods used in estimating GDPI as well as income by institutional sector and saving, assets, and liabilities measures.
Tourism satellite account: Year ended March 2024 provides a picture of the role tourism plays in New Zealand, with information on the changing levels and impact of tourism activity.
Technical enquiries
Katrina Dewbery
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04 931 4841
ISSN 1178-0290
Next release
Gross domestic product: June 2025 quarter will be released on 18 September 2025.
