Migration has become a hot topic over the last year, with a record high net migration gain. This large inflow of people into New Zealand has seen the population increase by 145,000 people once births and deaths are accounted for – slightly more than adding an additional Dunedin over the last year. Read

The public sector is a significant employer in New Zealand, and it’s well known that these jobs are concentrated in Wellington. But how significant is the public sector as an employer around the country, and what components of the public sector drive this? Read

Christmas Day is just around the corner, and with it, the culinary delight that is a Christmas Day meal. Often an extravagant smorgasbord of too much food (or enough for lots of leftovers, at least), high food price inflation has made Christmas lunch or dinner an economic curiosity as well as a fami... Read

Global diesel prices have surged significantly over the last few months. Driven largely by supply constraints, our Chart of the Month shows how this surge has led to a significant import cost premium over petrol. Elevated diesel prices will have ripple effects throughout both the global and local economies, and risk inflation remaining higher for longer. Read

Drinking water quality remains a critical metric from which we can measure wellbeing in New Zealand. Access to safe drinking water is taken as given across almost all of New Zealand – for good reason. But as our Chart of the Month shows, although drinking water across most of New Zealand meets required standards, a lack of funding and measurement against some standards increases drinking water risks more than most would expect. Read

Fonterra recently announced a sharp cut to its forecast dairy payout, at the same time as dairy farmers face high costs. Our chart of the month highlights that the dairy payout is forecast to fall beneath operating expenses for the average farm, and also takes a broader view highlighting the volatility of the dairy payout and how we are evolving past peak cow. Read

The full fuel excise duty returned on 1 July 2023, which provisionally added 28.5c/L to the domestic price of regular petrol. However, the price of regular petrol was still 53c/L lower than this time last year, as the substantial decline in fuel prices since July 2022 means prices are sharply down even though the fuel tax is no longer discounted. Read

Over the past six years Masterton’s wellbeing has improved its relative position in six out of nine wellbeing domains. In our chart of the month, we showcase the district’s movement up the wellbeing rankings using the Infometrics regional wellbeing framework available in the newly refreshed Regional Economic Profile. Read

Recently released data from Stats NZ shows that the number of sheep per person in New Zealand had declined to below five in 2022, the lowest since the 1800s. However, the analysis was more sheepish about providing the ratio trend over time. Read

High inflation, rising interest rates, and more limited sales across the economy have bolstered expectations for a recession, particularly with the Reserve Bank charting a course directly toward this destination. A recession will affect, and already has affected, various parts of the economy in diff... Read