3. IntroductoryStatistics
New Zealand's aggregate merchandise export value grew at an average of 4.9 percent per annum over the period from 1988-2005. The aggregate value peaked in 2001, and had not recovered by 2005, leaving the compound aggregate growth rate at 4.3% per year for the last ten years, despite strong growth between 1999 and 2001 (Figure 1).9
Figure 2 shows the changes in product composition over time, using the SITC 1-digit classification of product groups. Notable changes include increases in the shares of Machinery and Transport Equipment, and Food and Live Animals, and a fall in the share of Crude Materials.
The past 18 years have also seen some changes in the relative importance of our export destinations. Notable examples are the fall in the relative importance of our exports to Japan and an increase in those to China. Six countries have remained among the top ten export destinations throughout the period – Australia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US. A further eight countries moved into and out of the top ten destinations over this time. Figure 3 shows the shares of each of these 14 countries in total exports between 1988 and 2005. In any given year, these countries account for 75 to 80% of total export value.
Despite relative stability at the one digit product level, we would expect to see much greater changes at more disaggregated levels. Similarly, while the top countries cover over three quarters of all New Zealand's exports, we would expect to see differences in the types of products going to each country, and also to see significant entry and exit of more peripheral countries. The rest of this paper will address some of the implications of taking a more detailed perspective on trade flows, looking at changes in products traded and trade partners, as well as the distribution of exporting across firms within the New Zealand economy.Use WP body text style here.
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