Dunedin’s economy has begun to recover more steadily, after the recovery had previously looked fragile, an economist says. The latest figures showed Dunedin pulling further out of recession, Infometrics principal economist and lead demographer Nick Brunsdon told city councillors at a meeting on Thursday. Gross domestic product was estimated to have grown by 1.1% for the city in the year to June, trailing national growth of 1.7% . Mr Brunsdon said Dunedin’s earlier drop in economic activity was not as deep as nationally, so there was less lost ground to be regained. In March, Dunedin had 0.2% GDP growth during the preceding year, against 0.4% nationally. Mr Brunsdon said the South Island was leading the national economic recovery and Dunedin was behind its South Island peers. The recovery was at a tentative stage, he told the council’s policy and planning committee. Despite economic headwinds from conflict in the Middle East, national economic activity might not have been as badly hit as first feared, Infometrics said after the June quarter. Employment was “starting to recover in Dunedin” and households in the city remained cautious with their spending. “It is still a challenging scene for local retailers,” Mr Brunsdon said. The value of non-residential building consents was well down, but the apparent investment trend was distorted by construction of the city’s new hospital. “We know there is quite a bit of work in the pipeline across the city.” As well as a report about the year to March, and receiving an update after the June quarter, councillors had in front of them a report produced by Enterprise Dunedin. This report, reviewed by Infometrics, said Dunedin’s GDP outperformed New Zealand’s in the past decade if population growth was accounted for. “Dunedin’s 20% growth in GDP from 2016 to 2025 is less than the 23% recorded by New Zealand in the same period. However, New Zealand added 13% to its population in the 10 years since 2016 for 23% growth in GDP while Dunedin added 3% to its population.” Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said business numbers had grown and the report showed the city remained resilient in a challenging economic environment. “It also highlights the important role our health, education and public sectors play in providing stability and supporting the city’s economy, while reminding us of challenges such as softer employment growth, declining commercial construction activity and affordability pressures.” The Enterprise Dunedin report noted the city’s economic profile was different from other New Zealand centres because of a high number of students, some of whom had part-time employment. This had implications for average annual earnings per filled job. Earnings for people aged 30 to 64 were consistent with national median income levels, the report said. Enterprise Dunedin economic development team leader Antony Deaker said the city’s economy had grown steadily. “Some sectors are growing rapidly — professional, scientific and technical services have grown by 51% in the last 10 years — alongside Dunedin’s traditionally large contributors to the economy in education and healthcare.”
