New Zealand - Real Gross Domestic Product

Gross domestic product (GDP) describes the total value of goods and services produced in the New Zealand economy, including private and government expenditure, inventory changes, and international trade. It is reported part of the quarterly System of National Accounts (NZSNA) published by Statistics NZ.

• National accounts framework: UN SNA 2008
• Industry classification: ANZSIC06, which is generally aligned with UN ISIC Rev. 3.1
• Measurements:
  • Millions of New Zealand dollars at chained year-2009/2010 prices (Mil. Ch. 2010 NZD)
  • At current prices
• Adjustment: Seasonally adjusted (SA)
• Native frequencies:
  • Quarterly
  • Annual (March)
• Start dates:

Gross domestic product (GDP) is a core macroeconomic statistic that measures New Zealand’s economic performance. It is an important tool that helps a range of users, including policymakers, to understand and manage the New Zealand economy.

Figures are expressed in both production and expenditure approaches (but not the income approach).

Figures are available in both current (nominal) prices (table 17) and inflation-adjusted prices (table 3). These are chain-linked and expressed in the average prices of the 2009/10 year, and are annually reweighted.  Unlike index numbers, these can show the relative size of each component.

In New Zealand, the government fiscal, financial reporting, and budget year runs from 1 July to the next 30 June. The company and personal financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March. The annual national accounts use the latter, hence the "Annual (March)" subfrequency and "2009/2010" price reference period (a.k.a. FY 2010).

Revisions to the previously published GDP series may be made each quarter and annum. These include the release of additional data to replace estimates, revisions to source datasets (e.g. Balance of Payments and Retail Trade Survey), annual updates to weights, and methodological changes.

Further reading

At the source:

• DataInfo+
• Sources and methods for the quarterly GDP (2008): http://www.stats.govt.nz/Publications/NationalAccounts/qtrly-gdp-sources-and-methods-2nd-edition.aspx
• Technical notes are attached to each quarterly release of GDP statistics.  For the September 2009 quarter (2009Q3) release: http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/GDP/GrossDomesticProduct_HOTPSep09qtr/Technical%20Notes.aspx
• For all Statistics NZ releases on GDP: http://search.stats.govt.nz/search?w=*&af=ct2:Economicindicators_GrossDomesticProduct%20ct1:Economicindicators