2. Imports and Exports
Information in this section is derived from two different areas. IT hardware import and exports are measured at the border by the Customs Department as goods leave or enter the country by calendar years.
Additionally, a survey of IT businesses conducted by Statistics New Zealand measures both IT hardware and software exports. The survey, now in its fifth year, is sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, the Information Technology Association of New Zealand (ITANZ), Tradenz, and Statistics New Zealand. The survey asks all businesses for information as at their previous annual balance date, with a cut-off of 30 September each year. The average balance date in each sample might reasonably be assumed to be March.
The 1998 survey attempts to provide better coverage of activity than previous surveys by including business units where IT activity is a secondary activity. This will lead to some increase in the figures for 1998 over previous years as firms not previously covered are now included. As with earlier surveys, this one does not cover IT businesses with 2 full time equivalent staff or less, which will tend to cause the survey to underestimate the actual export figures.
Information from the border and survey data cannot be directly compared because of differences in the accounting year, the differences in the treatment of export costs such as freight and insurance, and the restrictions imposed by the sample used for the survey.
During 1998, the generally lower level of the New Zealand dollar and the collapse of the Asian currencies and markets could be expected to have a major impact on both import and export patterns.
2.1 Hardware Imports
The following chart shows a summary of New Zealand IT hardware imports for the last nine calendar years, based on Customs figures. The 1998 year shows a 10% overall increase in IT hardware imports from 1997, comprising 7% for Computing Hardware and Parts, 9% for Telecommunications Hardware and 14% for Wireless Communications Hardware.
The information in the previous chart is shown again below subdivided by source, showing that the bulk of IT hardware imports are sourced from Asia and North America. Over the past three years there has been a decline in IT hardware imports from North America, by 12% in the 1998 year. Imports from Asia increased by 9% in 1998. Imports from Australia increased by 14%, from Europe by 10%, and there was a substantial jump in imports of 174% (to $52 million) from the `Rest of the World'.
2.2 Hardware Exports
The following three charts show export figures based on Customs data, by calendar year.
The chart below shows a summary of New Zealand IT hardware exports for the last nine years.
The chart shows that 1998 was a year of relatively modest overall growth for exports of IT hardware (8%), following the very strong growth of the 1997 year (43%). The export value of Wireless Communications Hardware, which comprises 55% of the total, was static compared with a 52% increase in 1997. On the other hand, Telecommunications Hardware exports grew by 18% and Computing Hardware and Parts grew by 30% in 1998. Overall, there has been steady growth of IT related hardware exports of around 25% per year since the beginning of the decade, as shown by the superimposed curve.
The previous chart refers to three categories of IT related hardware exports, the one below shows just the contribution of Computer Hardware and Parts:
There has been continued strong growth in this category, with a 30% increase in 1998 over 1997. The superimposed curve shows that overall, since the beginning of the decade there has been close to an average annual increase in exports in this category of 36%.
In the chart below, the total IT hardware exports are shown split by export destination.
In 1998, there was a jump of 84% in the value of exports to Europe with more modest increases in exports to Australia (8%) and North America (17%), offset to some extent by falls in exports to Asia (6%) and the Rest of the World (22%). This follows on from substantial increases in the value of exports to all five areas 1997, especially in exports to Australia, the Rest of the World and Asia.
The next chart is based on the 1998 Statistics New Zealand IT survey. The value of hardware exports was $281 million for the 1998 financial year, up from $173 million in 1996 and $240 million in 1997. Note that these figures are not directly comparable to the IT hardware export figures captured at the border, and given earlier in this paper. The figures do, however, show similar trends, as illustrated by the superimposed curve which corresponds to an annual 25% growth rate.
*The 1998 figure has been revised (from $192.5 million to $239.6 million) since first published in last year's report due to more accurate information becoming available as described below.
Note that a number of revisions were made to the 1997 survey data when the 1998 data was presented as more accurate information has become available (similar revisions were made in previous years to the 1995 and 1996 figures). In some cases, the original survey responses were inconsistent with company accounts and in others the revisions follow a re-classification of income by some firms. Additionally, improved information about non-respondent companies has become available. The data for non-respondent companies is imputed based upon the experience of similar responding firms at the time of the survey. These revisions make direct comparisons between the 1997 figures used in this paper with the figures published in last year's paper not possible.
2.3 Software and Services Exports
The information in this section is taken from the survey of IT businesses conducted by Statistics New Zealand. Software and services have not been separated due to the difficulty of accounting for software maintenance revenue. The figures have been revised this year to include training and education in IT under Software and Services.
* The 1997 figure has been revised (from $133.3 million to $127.3 million) since first published in last year's report due to more accurate information becoming available as described in the previous section.
The survey found software and computer services exports of $127 million (revised figures) in the 1997 financial year, a 6% decrease from 1996. The latest survey indicates a substantial increase in 1998 of 56%, to $198 million.
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