Services exports increased $1.6 billion (17 percent) to $11.5 billion in the March 2026 quarter compared with the March 2025 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
| Quarters | Exports | Imports |
| Mar-16 | 7263405914 | 4131384866 |
| Jun-16 | 5211733292 | 4411914596 |
| Sept-16 | 4857123471 | 4772838455 |
| Dec-16 | 5885667603 | 4630996277 |
| Mar-17 | 7411166629 | 4497603471 |
| Jun-17 | 5749031718 | 4735792666 |
| Sept-17 | 5239793387 | 5226255856 |
| Dec-17 | 6286672471 | 5111024223 |
| Mar-18 | 8041610212 | 4834575683 |
| Jun-18 | 6135128094 | 5288070864 |
| Sept-18 | 5422696458 | 5869846750 |
| Dec-18 | 6711650990 | 5790162627 |
| Mar-19 | 8292334540 | 5446483432 |
| Jun-19 | 6243555779 | 5820751965 |
| Sept-19 | 6013336298 | 6352453716 |
| Dec-19 | 6991912793 | 6166122335 |
| Mar-20 | 8401649339 | 5523507049 |
| Jun-20 | 3445779893 | 3997163793 |
| Sept-20 | 3276212020 | 4161779169 |
| Dec-20 | 3319348445 | 4226957621 |
| Mar-21 | 3161595495 | 4068968918 |
| Jun-21 | 3956890426 | 4632891713 |
| Sept-21 | 3290535549 | 5261253477 |
| Dec-21 | 3543750527 | 5726080284 |
| Mar-22 | 3342477192 | 5495278293 |
| Jun-22 | 3844489398 | 6393721674 |
| Sept-22 | 4640621235 | 7642135899 |
| Dec-22 | 5485979291 | 7935098140 |
| Mar-23 | 7671876851 | 7191083605 |
| Jun-23 | 6267830203 | 7369046935 |
| Sept-23 | 6516593885 | 8018949943 |
| Dec-23 | 7236077326 | 7794626310 |
| Mar-24 | 9028570971 | 7356669076 |
| Jun-24 | 7074410357 | 7730492787 |
| Sept-24 | 6652903537 | 8531928635 |
| Dec-24 | 8506475391 | 8581315282 |
| Mar-25 | 9853837928 | 8107559891 |
| Jun-25 | 7468042404 | 8485682024 |
| Sept-25 | 7275929164 | 9032777867 |
| Dec-25 | 9027854432 | 9255162151 |
| Mar-26 | 11488833806 | 8901895001 |
Travel services led the rise in services exports in the March 2026 quarter, up $1.3 billion (23 percent) to $7.0 billion, compared with the March 2025 quarter.
Travel exports are expenditure on goods and services by overseas travellers in New Zealand.
"Travel services accounted for more than 80 percent of the increase in total services exports in the March 2026 quarter," international accounts spokesperson Viki Ward said.
"March quarters are the peak for expenditure on travel services."
Within travel services there were increases for:
- personal travel - up $1.2 billion (22 percent) to $6.7 billion
- business travel - up $144 million (65 percent) to $364 million.
Both components of personal travel increased in the March 2026 quarter compared with the March 2025 quarter. These were:
- other personal travel - up $1.0 billion (24 percent) to $5.4 billion
- education-related travel - up $157 million (14 percent) to $1.3 billion.
Other personal travel includes people coming to New Zealand for a holiday or to visit family and friends.
| Country | Mar-25 | Mar-26 |
| Australia | 1098363477 | 1526029434 |
| "China | 751205249 | 1034447189 |
| People's Republic of" | 899515507 | 1028540272 |
| United States of America | 531439809 | 655388386 |
| EU | 515053098 | 556534580 |
| United Kingdom |
"Visitors from Australia accounted for $1.3 billion of other personal travel exports," Ward said.
"Australia is our largest source of overseas visitor arrivals. There were 409,200 overseas visitors from Australia in the March 2026 quarter - 36 percent of total visitor arrivals."
International travel: March 2026 has more information on overseas visitor arrivals.
China was the largest destination for education-related travel exports at $403 million.
Other contributors to services exports were:
- transportation services - up $179 million (15 percent) to $1.4 billion
- other business services - up $170 million (19 percent) to $1.0 billion.
Services imports rose $794 million (9.8 percent) to $8.9 billion in the same period. Contributing to this were:
- transportation services - up $75 million (4.3 percent) to $1.8 billion
- other business services - up $253 million (17 percent) to $1.7 billion
- telecommunication services - up $130 million (12 percent) to $1.2 billion
- travel services - up $73 million (4.3 percent) to $1.8 billion.
