Value of imports falls $500m

The value of imported vehicles, parts and accessories dropped by nearly $500 million in the June quarter of this year, when compared with figures from the same period of 2023.

Despite the fall, the category was still the third most valuable to New Zealand in the three months from April to June and accounted for eight per cent of imported goods across the top 25 sectors, according to data from Stats NZ.

Mechanical machinery and equipment, and petroleum and petrol products took out the leading two spots, with 9.4 and 8.7 per cent of imports respectively.

Vehicles, parts and accessories crossing our borders in the June 2024 period totalled $2.17 billion, which was down from $2.64b in the year prior.

However, it was up from $2b in the first three months of this year.

Japan was the main source of vehicle imports but the value of those has also tumbled over the past year.

They came to $808m in the June 2023 quarter before falling to $647m for the March 2024 quarter and then suffered another drop to $571m in the following three months.

Year-on-year, the value of imported vehicles for the June quarter from the European Union also dropped from $526m to $353m, while those from China slipped from $264m to $207m.

In contrast, the figures from Thailand increased from $263m to $273m.