Our economic division helps New Zealand officials at home and overseas to be well informed about economic matters. We provide research and analysis about trade and international economic issues.
On this page
We provide guidance on statistical analyses about New Zealand’s merchandise trade, services trade and investment flows. We can also help with preparing concise briefings on the New Zealand economy and global economic issues. And we work with Statistics New Zealand on trade data.
MFAT Working Papers
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Working Papers are a new series of research papers that explore different aspects of New Zealand’s international trade, investment and other forms of engagement. They will introduce and provide background to research findings by MFAT staff.
We hope the series will encourage and inform public discussion of relevant research areas, and contribute to the development of policy advice. The papers themselves do not constitute policy advice, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of MFAT or the Government.
To receive future MFAT Working Papers, please email DM-ECO@mfat.govt.nz
- Inclusive and productive characteristics of New Zealand goods exporting firms MFAT Working Paper [PDF 4.2 MB]
- Longitudinal Business Database: working paper data [XLSX 191 KB]
- Productive Sustainable and Inclusive Trade Channels Framework [PDF 895 KB]
- Understanding the linkages between trade and productivity sustainability and inclusiveness [PDF 1 MB]
- MFAT Working Paper: Estimating employment in New Zealand producing goods and services for export [PDF 138 KB]
- MFAT Working Paper: Estimating New Zealand's tradeable and non-tradeable sectors using Input Output Tables [PDF 181 KB]
Trade and Economic Research
Regional Summaries
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Auckland 28 September 2020 [PDF 1.1 MB]
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Bay of Plenty 28 September 2020 [PDF 1.1 MB]
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Canterbury 28 September 2020 [PDF 1.1 MB]
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Hawkes Bay 28 September 2020 [PDF 1.1 MB]
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Northland 28 September 2020 [PDF 1 MB]
- STORM Analysis Regional Summaries Otago 28 September 2020 [PDF 1 MB]
Research papers
- Improving New Zealand resilience to trade shocks, June 2023 [PDF, 1 MB]
This report was commissioned from Sense Partners to get a better understanding of how prepared New Zealand businesses are for market disruptions. The report highlights the steps exporters can take to strengthen their resilience. It also looks at the role that Government plays; the steps that it has already taken; and the areas where further work might be done to better foresee risk and build resilience. - Inclusive Trade Action Group three-year review of the implementation of CPTPP, June 2023 [PDF, 4 MB]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ITAG (Inclusive Trade Action Group) three-year review of the implementation of CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) in New Zealand reveals promising trends towards more inclusive and sustainable trade for Māori, women and SME exporters. (June 2023). - Trade and Gender Review of New Zealand (OECD, NZ) June 2022 [PDF, 4 MB]
The Trade and Gender Review of New Zealand draws on both quantitative and qualitative insights to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of trade, and trade policies, on New Zealand women as workers, consumers, and business owners and leaders. This Review sets out policy recommendations to help tackle the barriers that women face in engaging in trade and ensure that they share in the benefits from trade. (June 2022) - Non tariff measures — Impacts, trends and effects on exports from New Zealand, January 2022 [PDF, 2.2 MB]
Report on the key impacts, trends and effects of non-tariff measures on exports from New Zealand (January 2022) - The Trade Policy Uncertainty Index (July 2020) [PDF, 439 KB]
Covering an index commissioned in partnership with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to measure and examine trade policy uncertainty and its effects on business decisions (July 2020) - Industry Exposure to Trade - The Trade Opportunities and Risk Model [PDF, 1.9 MB]
- Report on the new model commissioned by MFAT to better understand various industries' reliance on trade from an export/import perspective
- Distributional aspects of New Zealand's tradeable and non-tradeable sectors [PDF, 1.1 MB]
Report on the composition of New Zealand's tradeable and non-tradeable sectors in terms of gender, ethnicity, region and business size (July 2018) - The Servicification of Trade(external link)
Analysis on the importance of services in New Zealand's trade (December 2016) - Summary of the 2015 Business Operations Survey [PDF, 305 KB]
Summary of the international engagement module of Statistics New Zealand's 2015 Business Operations survey (February 2016) - NZ's Trading Relationship with Australia at a State Level [PDF, 1.4 MB]
A comprehensive report on New Zealand's trade with Australian States (February 2016) - The China-ASEAN dynamic [PDF, 576 KB]
Analysis on the impact of China's economic rebalancing on ASEAN and the impact on New Zealand's trade into the region (February 2016) - Global Growth in Trade Relative to GDP [PDF, 442 KB]
Analysis on the slowdown in global trade growth (August 2015) - Characteristics of New Zealand's Commercial Services Exporters [PDF, 999 KB]
An update on previous research examining the characteristics of New Zealand's commercial services exporters using Statistics New Zealand's 2011 ITSS Census. (July 2014)
Latest trade statistics
Stats NZ compiles and publishes New Zealand’s goods and services trade statistics.
- Goods only trade data is available on a monthly basis in the Overseas Merchandise Trade releases(external link).
- Goods and services trade data is published quarterly in the International Trade release(external link).
- Stats NZ have a helpful dashboard for accessing trade statistics(external link).