New Zealand's merchandise trade surplus in April 2025 was $1.4 billion, compared with a deficit of $12 million in April 2024, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
"New Zealand has had only four monthly surpluses over $1 billion. The last two were in 2020 and two out of the four were also in April months," international accounts spokesperson Viki Ward said.
"The overlap of the dairy and fruit industry seasons contributed to this high."
| Month | Trade balance |
| Apr-16 | 349530073 |
| May-16 | 343078843 |
| Jun-16 | 106790388 |
| Jul-16 | -351427805 |
| Aug-16 | -1239891851 |
| Sep-16 | -1387987389 |
| Oct-16 | -797651150 |
| Nov-16 | -723201112 |
| Dec-16 | -1435171 |
| Jan-17 | -226543047 |
| Feb-17 | -42276469 |
| Mar-17 | 261589138 |
| Apr-17 | 546879922 |
| May-17 | 62020162 |
| Jun-17 | 243117487 |
| Jul-17 | 92027349 |
| Aug-17 | -1174342582 |
| Sep-17 | -1165209854 |
| Oct-17 | -839633458 |
| Nov-17 | -1222417301 |
| Dec-17 | 614310559 |
| Jan-18 | -662421494 |
| Feb-18 | 188256546 |
| Mar-18 | -150609406 |
| Apr-18 | 199745211 |
| May-18 | 199288004 |
| Jun-18 | -285260079 |
| Jul-18 | -203110333 |
| Aug-18 | -1566757996 |
| Sep-18 | -1579921712 |
| Oct-18 | -1305105133 |
| Nov-18 | -1003973060 |
| Dec-18 | 9286883 |
| Jan-19 | -934926531 |
| Feb-19 | -93584137 |
| Mar-19 | 825181314 |
| Apr-19 | 360963002 |
| May-19 | 174927698 |
| Jun-19 | 329812747 |
| Jul-19 | -732335397 |
| Aug-19 | -1641634097 |
| Sep-19 | -1309937148 |
| Oct-19 | -1038380593 |
| Nov-19 | -786493088 |
| Dec-19 | 379772255 |
| Jan-20 | -395635011 |
| Feb-20 | 550639307 |
| Mar-20 | 522807892 |
| Apr-20 | 1374019783 |
| May-20 | 1222702687 |
| Jun-20 | 416538602 |
| Jul-20 | 387761796 |
| Aug-20 | -320606284 |
| Sep-20 | -1132334429 |
| Oct-20 | -465913506 |
| Nov-20 | 679104 |
| Dec-20 | 230069561 |
| Jan-21 | -729765438 |
| Feb-21 | 449847010 |
| Mar-21 | -182555509 |
| Apr-21 | 557914991 |
| May-21 | 404936125 |
| Jun-21 | 442108253 |
| Jul-21 | -387158502 |
| Aug-21 | -2132508281 |
| Sep-21 | -2166033786 |
| Oct-21 | -1282573004 |
| Nov-21 | -1085761728 |
| Dec-21 | -990246456 |
| Jan-22 | -1106744295 |
| Feb-22 | -714801157 |
| Mar-22 | -593488596 |
| Apr-22 | 469495559.5 |
| May-22 | 148263036 |
| Jun-22 | -1132868318 |
| Jul-22 | -1415192071 |
| Aug-22 | -2634137110 |
| Sep-22 | -2519671472 |
| Oct-22 | -2315527621 |
| Nov-22 | -2183787239 |
| Dec-22 | -650530508 |
| Jan-23 | -2095237898 |
| Feb-23 | -846757630 |
| Mar-23 | -1602490156 |
| Apr-23 | 220854073 |
| May-23 | 41615990.2 |
| Jun-23 | -114738381 |
| Jul-23 | -1174149043 |
| Aug-23 | -2266681329 |
| Sep-23 | -2420838856 |
| Oct-23 | -1732504563 |
| Nov-23 | -1258971689 |
| Dec-23 | -372771305 |
| Jan-24 | -1064170538 |
| Feb-24 | -318989147 |
| Mar-24 | 469883412 |
| Apr-24 | -11882445 |
| May-24 | 59494662 |
| Jun-24 | 577124190 |
| Jul-24 | -1021575122 |
| Aug-24 | -2316015330 |
| Sep-24 | -2166468080 |
| Oct-24 | -1653634248 |
| Nov-24 | -449804544 |
| Dec-24 | 36046105 |
| Jan-25 | -549356414 |
| Feb-25 | 451332856 |
| Mar-25 | 794432318 |
| Apr-25 | 1426036552 |
The goods surplus is calculated by subtracting the value of goods imports from the value of goods exports. New Zealand imported $6.4 billion and exported $7.8 billion of goods in April 2025.
Increases in our primary products exports in April 2025 compared with April 2024 contributed to this surplus, including:
- milk powder, butter, and cheese up $601 million, to $2.2 billion
- fruit up $265 million, to $1.2 billion
- meat and edible offal up $269 million, to $1.1 billion
- logs, wood, and wood articles up $141 million, to $481 million.
In the April 2025 month, these products made up 63 percent of New Zealand's goods exports, compared with 58 percent of goods exports in the same month last year.
Milk powder was the largest contributor to exports in April 2025, reaching $1.0 billion, an increase of $247 million (32 percent) compared with April 2024.
Fruit exports increase
The value of fruit exports increased by $1.4 billion (36 percent) in the year ended April 2025, compared with the year ended April 2024. Sixty-five percent ($3.5 billion) was sent to four main destinations.
| Year | "China | European Union | Japan | Taiwan |
| 2018 | People's Republic of" | 624395280 | 440411431 | 228027202 |
| 2019 | 489342152 | 758998379 | 551386335 | 233273385 |
| 2020 | 639384409 | 755699798 | 742659033 | 237562160 |
| 2021 | 765376349 | 818986103 | 585687658 | 225962263 |
| 2022 | 726063178 | 886140715 | 592162369 | 269329475 |
| 2023 | 838113527 | 669403552 | 565933830 | 312074095 |
| 2024 | 864349492 | 697614416 | 540319723 | 283190903 |
| 2025 | 1004589306 | 1005199593 | 655061989 | 403675593 |
Kiwifruit, apples, and cherries were the largest contributors. Demand differs across each destination, as shown below.
Kiwifruit, apples, and cherries to top four destinations in the year ended April 2025 |
||||
Green kiwifruit |
Gold kiwifruit |
Apples |
Cherries |
|
$ million |
||||
China |
56 |
1,000 |
343 |
19 |
European Union |
423 |
525 |
49 |
- |
Japan |
168 |
439 |
35 |
2 |
Taiwan |
39 |
153 |
139 |
61 |
All other destinations (excluding the four above) were sent $1.9 billion of fruit in the year ended April 2025, an increase of $400 million (27 percent) compared with the year ended April 2024.
In total, 1.2 million tonnes of fruit was exported in the year ended April 2025, compared with 910,000 tonnes in the year ended April 2024.
