- Tracy Withers, Bloomberg
In the last quarter of 2016, New Zealand's GDP rose 0.4%, state officials reported on Wednesday. The growth was lower than experts estimated. Moreover, it was the weakest quarterly expansion since the June 2015 quarter. The main driver of GDP growth in the Q4 of 2016 remained the services sector, which accounts for almost three-fourths of the economy, that soared 0.7% during the reported quarter. Within it the main drivers were business services and art, recreation, and other services, which rallied 1.7% and 3.8%, accordingly. In contrast, agriculture fell 0.6%, following the decrease in milk production. It was accompanied by manufacturing, which also fell 1.6% amid lower production in the food, beverage, and tobacco industries. Exports slipped 3.8% because of lower sales of dairy products, metal products, machinery and equipment, crude oil, and logs and timber. In contrast, imports nudged 1.9% as a result of higher purchases of machinery and plant. Consumer spending growth remained positive and climbed to 0.4%, yet its pace slowed after two consecutive quarters of strong growth. Furthermore, tourist spending advanced 5.1% in the quarter. Finally, GDP per capita tumbled 0.2%, following 0.3% increases in the two previous quarters. Over all of 2016, economic growth rose 3.1%.
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