December 19, 2013 4:00pm by David Farrar

Economy grows 1.4% in last quarter

Rebounding dairy production drove a 1.4 percent increase in gross domestic product (GDP) for the September 2013 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This increase in GDP is the largest since the December 2009 quarter.

The strong increase in dairy production was the main contributor to a 17.0 percent rise in agriculture, which makes up about 5 percent of the New Zealand economy.

Not bad.

People will recall how the future Labour/Greens/NZ First/Mana Government have been saying manufacturing is in crisis.

Manufacturing GDP also increased 1.5% in the last quarter.

Also recall how Greens/NZ First and Mana (not Labour) all opposed the FTA with China. Well also reported today:

For the first time, China has surpassed Australia as New Zealand’s top goods export destination on an annual basis, Statistics New Zealand said today. …

The trade balance for November 2013 was a surplus of $183 million (4.1 percent of exports). This is the first trade surplus for a November month since 1991. This follows a trade deficit in October 2013, which was the lowest deficit for an October month since the mid-1990s.

Things are looking good – if we keep the right policies.