Dairy product exports grow for 20 years – newsletter
10 October 2013
New Zealand is exporting more and more dairy products and the world is paying slightly more for them.
In dairy exports, Statistics New Zealand releases an infographic that shows this growth over 20 years.
Click for big version.
An accompanying article Dairy export prices and volumes move upward over 20 years, shows the volume of dairy exports is four times as high and prices are up 15 percent.
As the volume of dairy exports has risen, production has also increased to support the growth. In 2012 New Zealand had
6.4 million dairy cattle, compared with 3.5 million in 1992. The numbers of sheep and beef cattle have both fallen over
this period.
The value of dairy exports increased from $2.5 billion to $11.4 billion between 1992 and 2012.
“New Zealand is now more diversified in the countries it exports dairy products to. In the 1960s, we exported dairy
products mainly to the UK, but this has changed to include the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa,”
Statistics NZ prices manager Chris Pike said.
Between 1992 and 2012, China moved from being New Zealand’s 31st destination for dairy products to being number one –
annual exports to China increased from $12.8 million to $2.6 billion over the 20 years.
“China has grown from a multi-million to a multi-billion dollar dairy export market for New Zealand,” Mr Pike said.
In contrast, the United Kingdom has gone from the top spot to being our 45th destination for dairy exports. In 1973, the
UK joined what is now the European Union; since then dairy exports to the UK as a percentage of our total dairy exports
has fallen away. In 2012, the UK took just 0.3 percent of New Zealand’s dairy exports.
For more information on dairy exports, and to read the Price Index News released today by Statistics NZ, visit www.stats.govt.nz.
For more information about these statistics: Visit Price Index News: October 2013 – newsletter
ENDS