Statistics New Zealand has today released national accounts figures for the June quarter of 2017, with Gross domestic product (GDP) rising by 0.8% over the quarter to be up 2.5% year-on-year. GDP per capita rose by 0.3% in the June quarter and by 0.6% year-on-year.
The main movements by industry are shown below, with 11 of 16 industries growing the the June quarter:
The main movements in the expenditure measure of GDP in the June quarter are shown below:
Real gross national disposable income (RGNDI) – which measures the real purchasing power of New Zealand’s disposable income – was up 1.4% in the June quarter:
RGNDI per capita was up 0.9% in the June quarter and by 1.8% over the year. The stronger growth in RGNDI compared with GDP was driven by a 1.5% increase in New Zealand’s terms-of-trade in the June quarter as export prices rose more than import prices.
Statistics New Zealand points out that New Zealand’s economy is growing faster than most of its trading partners:
However, it should be noted that New Zealand’s population is growth is among the fastest in the world at around 2.0%, owing to the nation’s high immigration program:
Thus, New Zealand’s growth figures are being heavily inflated, much like Australia’s have been over the past 15 years.
