Exports dropped by 8.7 percent year-on-year to NZD 3,390 million, led by lower sales of milk powder, butter, and cheese (-22.2 percent), meat and edible offal (-26 percent). Outbound shipments declined to Australia (-0.3 percent); the US (-16.6 percent); Japan (-4.5 percent); United Kingdom (-12.4 percent) and South Korea (-27.4 percent) while exports to China rose by 2 percent.
Imports fell by 3.1 percent year-on-year to NZD 4,652 million, mostly driven by a cut in purchase of capital goods (45 percent). Meantime, imports also decreased for crude oil (-38 percent); aircraft and parts (-65 percent) and electrical machinery equipments (-6.2 percent). Purchases went down from China (-2.9 percent), the US (-34 percent), Thailand (-3.9 percent), while imports from Australia increased 11.1 percent.