Annual imports of goods from China hit a record high of NZ$10 billion, up NZ$1.6 billion (19 percent), for the year ending September 2015, Statistics New Zealand said earlier this week. Total goods imports reached NZ$52 billion, the highest-ever for a 12-month period.
Monthly imports from China topped NZ$1 billion for the first time in September, up 22 percent on year (NZ$193 million) to NZ$1.1 billion. Total monthly imports, excluding large import items, were the highest ever in September, up 8.1 percent (NZ$368 million) to NZ$4.9 billion, compared with September last year.
“The value of imports from China has increased across most commodities for the last 12 months,” international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said. “Mobile phones and laptops led the increase, an increase of a quarter of a billion dollars.”