New Zealand’s government data agency, Stats NZ, released Gross Domestic Product figures Thursday that showed the economy slipped into recession in the first quarter of 2023. GDP was down by a seasonally-adjusted 0.1 percent as of March.
A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and since New Zealand’s GDP slipped by 0.7 percent in the last quarter of 2022, Stats NZ declared the first technical recession since the lockdown-hobbled pandemic nightmare year of 2020. The final numbers for the first quarter were a considerable disappointment, as the New Zealand Reserve Bank had anticipated 0.3 percent growth, not a 0.1 percent contraction, and the Treasury Department predicted a recession would be avoided altogether.Business services were the biggest downwards driver, falling 3.5 percent, Stats NZ said.
“Management consulting, advertising, scientific, and engineering design services drove the fall in business services,” Stats NZ economic and environmental insights general manager Jason Attewell said.Agriculture, forestry and fishing contracted 0.7 percent, manufacturing fell 1.1 percent, and education and training fell 1.9 percent.
Stats NZ pointed to “adverse weather events” causing disruptions in agriculture, transportation, and education as major factors.