Trade with APEC - year ended June 1999
Trade with APEC countries accounted for 69 per cent of New
Zealand's exports of goods and 72 per cent of New Zealand's
imports of goods in the year ended June 1999. During the
last five years, trade with APEC countries has contributed a
reasonably stable proportion of New Zealand's total
merchandise trade.
APEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic
Co-operation and is a grouping of regional economies set up
in November 1989 with 12 founding members including New
Zealand and several of our main trading partners. A further
nine countries have since joined.
For the year ended June
1999, provisional merchandise exports to APEC countries
totalled $15,650 million. Three countries accounted for 69
per cent of this export value. Australia at 31 per cent was
the main export market followed by the United States of
America at 19 per cent and Japan at 18 per cent. The main
commodities exported were milk powder, butter and cheese at
14 per cent, wood and wood articles at nine per cent and
meat and edible offal at nine per cent.
For the same
year, provisional merchandise imports from APEC countries
totalled $17,417 million. As for exports there were three
countries which dominated, accounting for 73 per cent of
this import value. Australia at 31 per cent was the main
source of imports followed by the United States of America
at 25 per cent and Japan at 18 per cent. The main
commodities imported were mechanical machinery at 15 per
cent, vehicles, parts and accessories at 14 per cent and
electrical machinery at 10 per cent.
The provisional
merchandise trade balance with APEC countries for the year
ended June 1999 was a deficit of $1,768 million compared
with a deficit of $1,149 million for the previous June year.