It's the shining light in the New Zealand economy - and it's continuing to shine brightly.
New Zealand's primary sector is having a good year - and its continuing to drive strong export figures.
Statistics NZ's figures for May show that in the month the difference between what we exported and what we imported resulted in a surplus of $1.23 billion, which is slightly down on the $1.29 billion surplus recorded in April.
The country has had only five monthly surpluses of over $1 billion and now two of these have come in consecutive months.
In addition, in the past four months the country has racked up four consecutive surpluses totalling around $3.8 billion. We don't normally string many surpluses together. During the pandemic times was unusual for that and in 2020 we did record six consecutive surpluses.
The strong recent run of surpluses has trimmed our annual goods trade deficit to $3.8 from $10 billion in May 2024.
In May we exported $7.68 billion of goods, just down on the April total, but the third month in a row of exports valued in excess of $7 billion.
Milk powder, butter and cheese were again standouts during May, with a total of over $2.2 billion worth exported, that's up $332 million, or 18% on the amount of these products exported in May 2024.
Fruit exports in May were $1 billion, which was up about $200 million - 25% - on the figure for May 2024.
Meat and edible offal exports were $1.045 billion, up 11% on the figure for May 2024.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.