WELLINGTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's annual goods trade surplus reached a 28-year high of 2.2 billion NZ dollars (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) as imports tumbled in the year ended October 2020, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.
"This is the largest annual surplus since the July 1992 year, driven mainly by much lower imports after the global COVID-19 pandemic hit, while New Zealand's exports have held up," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said in a statement.
Annual imports fell 10 percent to 58 billion NZ dollars (40.6 billion U.S. dollars) in the year ended October 2020. In the same period exports rose 1.2 percent to 60 billion NZ dollars (42 billion U.S. dollars), he said.
"Imports are down in part because of restrictions on international and domestic travel imposed in March to slow the spread of the pandemic," Allen said. "That can be seen in the big drops in annual imports of things like turbojets, fuel, and cars."
In contrast, annual exports for some key goods such as dairy products and fruit are higher than a year ago, though seafood and forestry export values are lower, according to Stats NZ. Enditem
