New data from Stats NZ shows a number of items becoming more popular over time, particularly as technology shifts, while other products fall out of favour with households as preferences change. The latest consumers price index (CPI) reweight reflects an ongoing adjustment to the spending patterns of... Read

President Trump’s “on-again, off-again” tariffs, and the uncertainty associated with them, have thrown financial markets into a tailspin over the last couple of months. Although New Zealand is not directly in the firing line from tariffs yet, it’s a possibility in coming weeks. Our Chart of the Mont... Read

The tourism recovery has been uneven, with different country or region markets in focus. Over the 2024 calendar year, the US cemented itself as New Zealand’s second-largest inbound visitor market, with 11% of total tourist arrivals. The US market has fully recovered back to pre-pandemic levels over 2024. In comparison, China has slipped back to New Zealand’s third-largest market (from second-largest back in 2019), with only a 61% recovery over 2024. Read

Economic figures aren’t always the most interesting or entertaining, but they are important to monitor how broader trends evolve and what they mean for different groups. But sometimes, various datasets can be put to more fun use. For our last Chart of the Month for 2024, we look into Christmas costs... Read

Te Pūkenga recently released an ITP Competition Report under an official information act (OIA) request. The report contains a trove of information and data about Tertiary Education Organisations (TEOs) operating in each of New Zealand’s regions. I was surprised at the sheer number of TEOs in regions that have relatively small populations, which led me to wonder whether there would be benefits to having fewer TEOs. Read

New Zealand’s energy markets have been in focus in recent months, after low gas production and low hydro lake levels combined to force prices higher. The recent threatening of an energy crisis seems to have been avoided – for now – with prices normalising somewhat. Read

Despite being a relatively small country internationally, New Zealand is geographically diverse enough that there is never a single economic "story". One example of this can be seen if we divide the country up into "Metro", "Provincial" and "Rural" areas and examine rental affordability. Read

Carbon emissions are being given increasing attention as we start to see the dramatic impact of severe weather events exacerbated by climate change. In the July 2024 Chart of the Month, we highlight how emissions have fallen at an industry level – though to reach the Government’s net zero 2050 target, more work is required to further reduce emissions. Read

School attendance rates have come under the spotlight recently as the coalition government has set itself lofty targets to raise New Zealand’s very poor school attendance record. Read

New Zealanders are out exploring the world again, in large numbers. Those travels are easy to see, with scores of young Kiwis documenting their overseas trips across social media. Principal Economist, Brad Olsen, asks the question – how many Kiwis are travelling, and where’s the most popular spot? Read