New Zealand's services trade deficit narrowed to $696 million in the December 2023 quarter, compared with $2.1 billion in the December 2022 quarter, according to data released by Stats NZ today.
| Quarter | Export | Imports |
| Jun-14 | 3789815916 | 3883235365 |
| Sep-14 | 3658621480 | 4246499480 |
| Dec-14 | 4913682860 | 4242930351 |
| Mar-15 | 6332186528 | 3925003396 |
| Jun-15 | 4806141958 | 4169469715 |
| Sep-15 | 4746410022 | 4652963362 |
| Dec-15 | 5539590784 | 4499025820 |
| Mar-16 | 7165185914 | 4147835866 |
| Jun-16 | 5107368292 | 4430973596 |
| Sep-16 | 4724132471 | 4761149455 |
| Dec-16 | 5773808603 | 4622337277 |
| Mar-17 | 7466368721 | 4477575686 |
| Jun-17 | 5757063013 | 4716470266 |
| Sep-17 | 5155205560 | 5179836762 |
| Dec-17 | 6226988736 | 5066100783 |
| Mar-18 | 8121989109 | 4770383133 |
| Jun-18 | 6136105052 | 5224478424 |
| Sep-18 | 5392228143 | 5850232787 |
| Dec-18 | 6736650008 | 5772483110 |
| Mar-19 | 8290628953 | 5375075671 |
| Jun-19 | 6242377884 | 5761400871 |
| Sep-19 | 6013703298 | 6324151716 |
| Dec-19 | 6992279793 | 6137820335 |
| Mar-20 | 8402013339 | 5460567384 |
| Jun-20 | 3445784893 | 3933254128 |
| Sep-20 | 3273941020 | 4097371504 |
| Dec-20 | 3316647445 | 4160194956 |
| Mar-21 | 3158301588 | 3981353203 |
| Jun-21 | 3968432983 | 4602887215 |
| Sep-21 | 3281518826 | 5189853120 |
| Dec-21 | 3534826074 | 5657305760 |
| Mar-22 | 3334696344 | 5374915870 |
| Jun-22 | 3885047539 | 6307374409 |
| Sep-22 | 4824176884 | 7633514975 |
| Dec-22 | 5816435961 | 7886903550 |
| Mar-23 | 7405960844 | 7117002030 |
| Jun-23 | 6114797617 | 7270424011 |
| Sep-23 | 6233369538 | 7898709435 |
| Dec-23 | 7087789944 | 7783878019 |
The main contributor to the narrowing of the deficit was an increase in travel exports, which increased 44 percent compared with the December 2022 quarter to $3.7 billion. Travel exports represent the amount spent by visitors in New Zealand during the period.
"Travel exports continue to rise as international travel patterns slowly return to normal," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said.
"There were a lot more visitors arriving by plane and on cruise ships; however, we are still not quite seeing pre-COVID levels of visitation."
| Quarter | Export | Imports |
| Jun-14 | 2116236821 | 1150159033 |
| Sep-14 | 1984422227 | 1468587495 |
| Dec-14 | 2984568610 | 1284562083 |
| Mar-15 | 4313079076 | 1110559127 |
| Jun-15 | 2880706248 | 1268505234 |
| Sep-15 | 2813997315 | 1608270313 |
| Dec-15 | 3429302110 | 1368947026 |
| Mar-16 | 4944319012 | 1194644904 |
| Jun-16 | 3040893217 | 1347268161 |
| Sep-16 | 2659276869 | 1703274203 |
| Dec-16 | 3476772986 | 1485971210 |
| Mar-17 | 4945070879 | 1344105944 |
| Jun-17 | 3319571628 | 1464458021 |
| Sep-17 | 2883702691 | 1845667169 |
| Dec-17 | 3775425730 | 1617977850 |
| Mar-18 | 5361426457 | 1425763900 |
| Jun-18 | 3610623584 | 1574449172 |
| Sep-18 | 2858715841 | 2022546485 |
| Dec-18 | 3886055481 | 1647150833 |
| Mar-19 | 5450128487 | 1383040149 |
| Jun-19 | 3544513946 | 1540306242 |
| Sep-19 | 2969318144 | 1950577060 |
| Dec-19 | 4023571598 | 1653007292 |
| Mar-20 | 5376276889 | 1327732878 |
| Jun-20 | 1338394313 | 272158852 |
| Sep-20 | 1103656371 | 339085831 |
| Dec-20 | 1050693324 | 357507673 |
| Mar-21 | 1072065405 | 306226237 |
| Jun-21 | 1373396072 | 426424898 |
| Sep-21 | 851252334 | 458130474 |
| Dec-21 | 755523184 | 449932260 |
| Mar-22 | 786026304 | 447362067 |
| Jun-22 | 1196783187 | 850137239 |
| Sep-22 | 1654970130 | 1401930325 |
| Dec-22 | 2539674712 | 1409553493 |
| Mar-23 | 3661432739 | 1333080754 |
| Jun-23 | 2754294351 | 1539435491 |
| Sep-23 | 2864239717 | 1957389180 |
| Dec-23 | 3661554885 | 1759984491 |
Leading the increase in travel exports was other personal travel, which increased 47 percent to $2.6 billion in the December 2023 quarter compared with the December 2022 quarter. Other personal travel includes spending by tourists and people visiting family and friends.
Australia remains our leading country for other personal travel exports. Spending in this category by visitors from China has increased in the December 2023 quarter compared with the December 2022 quarter but is still not at its pre-COVID levels.
| Quarter | Australia | "China |
| Jun-14 | 322871326 | People's Republic of" |
| Sep-14 | 387662494 | 188001830 |
| Dec-14 | 475073251 | 140073238 |
| Mar-15 | 678855670 | 322379669 |
| Jun-15 | 380967765 | 541033542 |
| Sep-15 | 462299760 | 294475600 |
| Dec-15 | 474738269 | 282581654 |
| Mar-16 | 765561456 | 425859123 |
| Jun-16 | 354012822 | 627950115 |
| Sep-16 | 419943608 | 325100205 |
| Dec-16 | 520764703 | 297081246 |
| Mar-17 | 691651408 | 376027740 |
| Jun-17 | 424444110 | 414189737 |
| Sep-17 | 489952924 | 379324604 |
| Dec-17 | 531300515 | 213667111 |
| Mar-18 | 730282907 | 390519792 |
| Jun-18 | 401861914 | 589377446 |
| Sep-18 | 474723473 | 387615123 |
| Dec-18 | 521150875 | 183633745 |
| Mar-19 | 788135592 | 431747252 |
| Jun-19 | 403032847 | 528815647 |
| Sep-19 | 482279350 | 438020749 |
| Dec-19 | 549264493 | 329785878 |
| Mar-20 | 899342998 | 323538638 |
| Jun-20 | 95205253 | 387191509 |
| Sep-20 | 81195030 | 65613558 |
| Dec-20 | 81109831 | 38389650 |
| Mar-21 | 87218572 | 29605639 |
| Jun-21 | 265266975 | 28716922 |
| Sep-21 | 135383370 | 31983915 |
| Dec-21 | 90281134 | 26477976 |
| Mar-22 | 117327257 | 26593158 |
| Jun-22 | 302099218 | 26571624 |
| Sep-22 | 461828685 | 38914003 |
| Dec-22 | 598808140 | 39586486 |
| Mar-23 | 676129478 | 67568491 |
| Jun-23 | 453536058 | 140994550 |
| Sep-23 | 518648262 | 191536207 |
| Dec-23 | 616576711 | 223784237 |
Total travel imports were up 25 percent compared with the December 2022 quarter, to $1.8 billion. Travel imports were 6.5 percent higher than the December 2019 quarter.
