The Economy of New Zealand

The economy of New Zealand is categorized as modern, rich, and developed. As of 2008, its GDP is US$128.1 billion and an estimated GDP per capita of US$30,234 roughly comparable to Spain and the United States. Level of life satisfaction in the country is quiet high. New Zealand was ranked 15th in The Economist’s worldwide quality-of-life index in 2005 and 20th on the 2006 Human Development Index. Its unemployment rate as of December 2007 is at 3.4%, the lowest since 1986. Consequently, the country ranked 5th in OECD’s ranking as a result of its strong economy.

New Zealand has a highly-driven market economy with international trading very dependent to Australia, the US, China, Japan, and UK. Export trading accounts for almost 25% of the country’s output. Major industries in the country include food processing, textiles, transportation and machinery equipment, mining, tourism, and finance. The largest sector of the economy is the tertiary service sector which accounts for 68.8% of GDP, followed by manufacturing at 26.9% and primary sector (agriculture, fishing, mining) at 4.3%.

New Zealand was recently appraised by the World Bank as the most business-friendly country in the world. It has strong economic relations with Australia as partners in Closer Economic Relations”. The said affiliation allows the free trading of goods and most services. In September 2000, New Zealand started a free trade agreement with Singapore and was extended in 2005 to include Brunei and Chile.