econ
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New Zealand

GDP/capita CAGR
4.3%
Unemployment (2025)
5.1%
Gini index (n/a)
n/a
CO2/capita (2024)
6.0 t

New Zealand: strong, sustained growth, 1980–2025

A small, isolated, agriculture-export-driven economy (dairy in particular), New Zealand undertook sweeping free-market reforms in the 1980s ('Rogernomics') that reshaped it into one of the world's most open economies. Between 1980 and 2025, New Zealand's GDP per capita grew from $7,467 to $49,591 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 4.3% — strong, sustained growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.5% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 1.9 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 10.0% to 4.0% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 54.3% to 68.2% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 72.8 to 82.0 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 80.4% to 77.2%, while the urban population share grew from 83.4% to 84.0%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 5.92 to 6.01 tonnes CO2e per person.

What it trades

Top exported and imported products, approximate share of total trade value.

Top exports

1
Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey; edible products of animal origin, not elsewhere ...30.9%
2
Meat and edible meat offal13.0%
3
Edible fruit and nuts; peel of citrus fruit or melons7.6%
4
Wood and articles of wood; wood charcoal6.4%
5
Preparations of cereals, flour, starch or milk; pastrycooks' products3.6%
6
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof3.3%
7
Beverages, spirits and vinegar3.2%
8
Albuminoidal substances; modified starches; glues; enzymes2.7%
9
Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad ...2.6%
10
Fish and crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic invertebrates2.5%

Top imports

1
Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof14.7%
2
Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral ...12.2%
3
Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories thereof10.9%
4
Electrical machinery and equipment and parts thereof; sound recorders and reproducers, television ...9.6%
5
Optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical ...3.8%
6
Plastics and articles thereof3.3%
7
Pharmaceutical products3.1%
8
Residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal fodder2.3%
9
Aircraft, spacecraft, and parts thereof1.8%
10
Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishings; ...1.8%

Events shaping this economy

Central bank perspective

Why the charts below look the way they do, drawing on the country’s own central bank and monetary authority.

Leading companies in New Zealand

Fonterra · ConsumerFletcher Building · MaterialsSpark New Zealand · TelecomAuckland Airport · InfrastructureMeridian Energy · Utilities

Macroeconomic

GDP growth
% annual
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GDP per capita
current US$
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Inflation (CPI)
% annual
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Unemployment
% of labor force
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Government debt
% of GDP
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Exports
% of GDP
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Imports
% of GDP
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Foreign direct investment, net inflows
% of GDP
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Current account balance
% of GDP
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Government expenditure
% of GDP
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Structural & Microeconomic

Agriculture, value added
% of GDP
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Industry, value added
% of GDP
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Services, value added
% of GDP
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Labor force participation
% of population 15+
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Gini index (inequality)
index (0-100)
Data not available for New Zealand
Poverty headcount ratio
% of population
Data not available for New Zealand

Education & Development

Tertiary school enrollment
% gross
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Adult literacy rate
% of people 15+
Data not available for New Zealand
Education spending
% of GDP
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Primary pupil-teacher ratio
pupils per teacher
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Life expectancy at birth
years
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Urban population
% of total
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Total population
people
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Environmental Cost

CO2 emissions per capita
t CO2e per capita
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