Despite the continued depression of dairying, New Zealand's exports for the year to March hit $69.8 billion, compared with $67.2 billion a year earlier, underpinned by the other top three earners of business, travel and meat exports, Statistics New Zealand data showed yesterday.
Dairying still accounted for the largest export share, 16.2% of the total, but receipts from all dairy export markets declined from $13 billion a year ago to $11.2 billion.
Total exports to second-placed trading partner China hit $11.5 billion, of which $2.52 billion was in dairy products, down 55% on the 2014 five-year high of $5.65 million.
SNZ's international statistics senior manager Nicola Growden said New Zealand's trade with the rest of the world recorded a surplus for the year to March.
"We earned $2.9 billion more from exports than we spent on imports,'' she said in a statement.
Total exports of goods and services for the year ended March 2016 totalled $69.8 billion, while imports totalled $66.9 billion.
New Zealand recorded trade surpluses with 16 of our top 25 trading partners in the March 2016 year, including the US.
New Zealand's top three trade surpluses in the latest year were with Australia, China and the US, she said.
New Zealand's exports to the US increased for the sixth consecutive year to March in 2016, earning New Zealand $2.8 billion more in 2016 than in 2010, Ms Growden said.
Trade with the US earned the country $444 million more from exports than was spent on imports for the year.
"New Zealand earned $8.4 billion from exports to the US, while our import expenditure to that country was $7.9 billion.
"Our total exports to the US made it our fourth-largest export destination in the latest year.''
The US took $1.94 billion in meat, of which beef was 81% and the remainder edible offal; $1.17 billion in personal travel; $565 million in dairy products; and $518 million in transportation services-air/sea freighting.
"New Zealand had record beef exports to the US through the middle of 2015 and this strength has resulted in a 55% increase over the past two years,'' Ms Growden said.
She said spending by US visitors to New Zealand of $1 billion was New Zealand's second-largest export earner from the US.
"Together, meat and travel contributed over one-third of New Zealand's total exports to the US,'' she said.
Australian tourists topped the travel list, credited with $2.03 billion, followed by the European Union ($1.94 billion), China ($1.73 billion) and the US.
At a glance
Exports the US took, a year ago and at March 2016
• Meat up from $1.7 billion to $1.94 billion, meat and edible offal (beef 81%)
• Personal travel up from $769 million to $1.17 billion
• Dairy products down from $608 million to $565 million
• Overseas freighting up from $422 million to $518 million
- Source: SNZ
