The GDP in New Zealand expanded 2.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2018, down from an upwardly revised 3.2 percent growth in the previous period and below market expectations of 2.8 percent. It was the weakest expansion since the fourth quarter of 2013. Slower growth was mainly seen in finance & insurance services (3.1% vs 3.7% in Q2); transport (4.1% vs 5.2%); retail trade (2.9% vs 3.3%); healthcare & social assistance (2.5% vs 3.5%); information & communication (2.4% vs 4.6%); manufacturing (0.3% vs 1.4%); utilities (1.4% vs 2.5%) and agriculture (2.1% vs 2.7%). In addition, output contracted in mining (-5.3% vs -12.4%) and construction (-0.6% vs 3.9%). On a quarterly basis, GDP expanded 0.3 percent, down from 1.0 percent in the previous quarter and expectations of 0.6 percent. GDP Annual Growth Rate in New Zealand averaged 2.62 percent from 1988 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 7.30 percent in the third quarter of 1993 and a record low of -2.30 percent in the first quarter of 2009.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in New Zealand is expected to be 2.70 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in New Zealand to stand at 2.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 2.60 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.