New Zealand’s BNZ Manufacturing PMI climbed to 55.1 in December 2018 from an upwardly revised 53.7 in the previous month. It was the highest print since April. Production (55.7 from 51.9 in November) and employment (52.2 from 51.2) grew faster, despite a slight slowdown in new orders (56.1 vs 56.3). Meantime, finished stocks jumped to 58.6 points (vs 54.2), the highest level since the survey began. "2018 averaged 53.8 in activity, slightly ahead of the overall average of 53.4 since the survey began. However, it was still a noticeable dip in expansion compared with 56.2 over 2017 and 56.0 over 2016," wrote BNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard. Manufacturing PMI in New Zealand averaged 53.42 from 2002 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 62.80 in June of 2004 and a record low of 36.10 in November of 2008.
Manufacturing PMI in New Zealand is expected to be 53.10 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Manufacturing PMI in New Zealand to stand at 53.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the New Zealand Manufacturing PMI is projected to trend around 54.00 in 2020, according to our econometric models.