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New Zealand Economic and Financial Overview 2012

Geographic Distribution of External Trade

New Zealand's trading relationships are becoming increasingly based around Pacific Rim countries. New Zealand's three largest export markets - Australia, China and the United States - accounted for 43.3% of New Zealand's merchandise exports and 43.2% of merchandise imports in the year ended 30 September 2011. Japan remains an important trading partner, both as a destination for exports and a source of imports. However, Asia excluding Japan is growing rapidly in importance, with the region increasing its share of merchandise exports to around 30%, up significantly from a decade ago. Tables 14 and 15 show the country composition of New Zealand's exports and imports.

Table 14 - Geographic Distribution of Exports[1]
  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2011
Year ended 30 September (dollar amounts in millions) % of Total
Australia 7,367 9,888 9,250 9,887 10,555 22.6
China, Peoples Republic of 1,903 2,238 3,527 4,318 5,798 12.4
United States 4,205 4,108 4,462 3,711 3,905 8.3
Japan 3,383 3,454 3,200 3,249 3,333 7.1
Korea, Republic of 1,300 1,406 1,270 1,355 1,633 3.5
United Kingdom 1,711 1,611 1,725 1,522 1,541 3.3
Taiwan 788 759 736 823 904 1.9
Indonesia 678 1,023 1,018 916 871 1.9
Malaysia 584 915 782 740 849 1.8
Singapore 565 912 865 1,071 798 1.7
Hong Kong 568 660 815 851 770 1.6
Germany 748 889 805 669 753 1.6
Philippines 590 743 624 697 738 1.6
Thailand 520 811 535 591 730 1.6
Canada 519 529 531 468 577 1.2
Italy 459 486 442 408 455 1.0
France 393 474 544 444 445 1.0
Belgium 518 564 508 396 367 0.8
Other Countries 7,792 10,503 9,949 9,672 11,768 25.2
Total 34,591 41,973 41,588 41,788 46,790 100.0
  • [1] Free on Board value. Including re-exports.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Table 15 - Geographic Distribution of Imports[2]
  2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2011
Year ended 30 September (dollar amounts in millions) % of Total
Australia 8,125 8,345 7,317 7,348 7,098 16.3
China, Peoples Republic of 5,104 5,723 6,092 6,073 6,912 15.8
United States 3,822 4,223 4,381 3,723 4,857 11.1
Japan 3,476 3,838 2,969 2,843 2,663 6.1
Singapore 1,809 2,210 1,702 1,396 2,099 4.8
Germany 1,814 1,900 1,743 1,619 1,817 4.2
Malaysia 953 1,811 1,128 1,386 1,445 3.3
Korea, Republic of 1,149 1,149 1,395 1,232 1,401 3.2
Thailand 1,040 1,234 1,046 1,240 1,328 3.0
United Kingdom 1,043 1,008 933 895 1,144 2.6
Italy 847 945 756 652 782 1.8
Taiwan 794 942 678 681 657 1.5
France 633 717 1,366 575 640 1.5
Saudi Arabia 574 490 241 243 599 1.4
Canada 595 603 643 423 575 1.3
Indonesia 681 1,060 749 518 571 1.3
Switzerland 266 327 341 302 358 0.8
Sweden 320 360 248 233 282 0.6
Belgium 281 300 278 272 248 0.6
Hong Kong 187 205 169 132 157 0.4
Other countries 4,905 6,910 6,645 6,768 8,042 18.4
Total 38,418 44,300 40,820 38,554 43,675 100.0
  • [2] Value for Duty.

Source: Statistics New Zealand

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