Exports during the past year are $2.8 billion ahead of what has been spent on imports, with the exports underpinned by dairy sales to China and cash spent by tourists.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) has compiled a new combined trade in goods and services index, representing international trade, for the past year to March.
SNZ's international statistics manager Jason Attewell said New Zealand earned $13 billion from selling goods and services to Australia, our largest trading partner, during the March 2015 year.
''China was our second-largest export partner, purchasing $10.7 billion of our goods and services,'' he said in a statement yesterday.
Although Australia and China purchased a similar amount of goods from New Zealand during the year, Australia bought more business services and Australian travellers were more likely to fly Air New Zealand than Chinese visitors, he said.
Collectively, the European Union (EU) was the country's largest import source, New Zealand buying $8.6 billion of goods and $2.9 billion of services from there.
''Imports from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France made up over half our imports from the EU,'' Mr Attewell said.
New Zealand's largest import expenses during the year were cars and spare parts from the EU and Japan, and machinery from the EU.
