Manufacturing sales in New Zealand rose 0.3 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2018, following a 0.3 percent fall in the previous period. Sales rebounded for meat and dairy products (+1.0 percent vs -5.6 percent in Q3), metal (4.1 percent vs -0.5 percent), and furniture and other manufacturing (5.5 percent vs -0.3 percent). Also, sales rose further for transport equipment and machinery and equipment (7.0 percent vs 2.6 percent) and fruit, oil, cereal, and other food manufacturing (4.1 percent vs 3.9 percent). On a quarterly basis, manufacturing sales went up 14.5 percent, after declining 6.2 percent in the prior period. Industrial Production in New Zealand averaged 1.52 percent from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 17.60 percent in the second quarter of 1995 and a record low of -10.50 percent in the second quarter of 2009.
Industrial Production in New Zealand is expected to be 1.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Industrial Production in New Zealand to stand at 3.20 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Manufacturing Sales is projected to trend around 3.40 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.