The economy of New Zealand is a highly developed free-market economy. It is the 52nd-largest national economy in the world when measured by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the 62nd-largest in the world when measured by purchasing power parity (PPP). New Zealand has one of the most globalised economies and depends greatly on international trade, mainly with China, Australia, the European Union, the United States, and Japan. New Zealand's diverse economy is made up of various types of informal and formal organisations, divided between two sectors, public and private. It has a sizeable service sector, accounting for 63% of all GDP activity as of 2013. As a large island nation New Zealand has abundant natural resources and mineral wealth. Prominent manufacturing industries include aluminium production, food processing, metal fabrication, wood and paper products. Mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water, and waste services accounted for 16.5% of GDP as of 2013. The primary sector continues to dominate New Zealand's exports, despite accounting for only 6.5% of GDP as of 2013. The information technology sector is growing rapidly. New Zealand's currency, the New Zealand dollar (informally known as the "Kiwi dollar"), also circulates in four Pacific Island territories. The New Zealand dollar is the 10th-most traded currency in the world.
Top Sectors in New Zealand
Transport in New Zealand
The New Zealand state highway network consists of 11,000 km of road, with 5981.3 km in the North Island and 4924.4 km in the South Island, built and maintained by the NZ Transport Agency, and paid for from general taxation and fuel excise duty. Heavy road users must pay Road User Charges as well, there is limited use of tolling on state highways. There is also 83,000 km of local roads built and maintained by local authorities.<br>Railway network: The railway network is owned by state-owned enterprise KiwiRail and consists of 3,898 km of railway line, built to the narrow gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in). Of this, 506 km is electrified.<br>Airways: There are seven international airports and twenty-eight domestic airports. Air New Zealand, 52% government-owned, is the national carrier and a state-owned enterprise. Airways New Zealand, another state-owned enterprise, provides air traffic control and communications.<br>Seaports: New Zealand has 14 international seaports.
Telecommunications in New Zealand
Present-day telecommunications in New Zealand include telephony, radio, television, and internet usage. The copper wire and fibre cable networks are mostly owned by Chorus Limited, a publicly listed company. Chorus wholesales services to retail providers (such as Spark). In the mobile sector, there are three operators: Spark, One NZ and 2degrees.<br>Internet: New Zealand has a high rate of internet use. As of October 2014, there are 1,916,000 broadband connections and 65,000 dial-up connections in New Zealand, of which 1,595,000 are residential and 386,000 are business or government. The majority of connections are digital subscriber line over phone lines. The Government has two plans to bring Ultra-Fast Broadband to 97.8% of the population by 2019, and is spending NZ$1.35 billion on public-private partnerships to roll out fibre-to-the-home connection in all main towns and cities with populations over 10,000. The program aims to deliver ultra-fast broadband capable of at least 100 Mbit/s download and 50 Mbit/s upload to 75% of New Zealanders by 2019. In total, 1,340,000 households in 26 towns and cities will be connected.
Energy in New Zealand
New Zealand will be potentially among the main winners after the global transition to renewable energy is completed; the country is placed very high - no. 5 among 156 countries - in the index of geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition (GeGaLo Index).<br>Electricity: The electricity market is regulated by the Electricity Industry Participation Code administered by the Electricity Authority (EA). The electricity sector uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. The 83% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the most sustainable economies in terms of electricity generation; in terms of total energy consumption in the New Zealand economy, this represents the 30% that comes from renewable sources.
16 Sep 2025
06 Oct 2025
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