01Key Takeaways
- New Zealand exported $42.12 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 7.65% from $45.62 billion in 2022.
- Dairy alone made up 28.90% of exports ($12.18 billion), driven substantially by Fonterra, the farmer-owned cooperative that exports to more than 130 countries.
- New Zealand supplies more than 70% of China's total log imports, and China alone bought 26.85% of all New Zealand exports overall, more than any other country.
- Kiwifruit exports run almost entirely through Zespri, a single-desk exporter New Zealand growers created in 1988 after years of losses under open competition.
025-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $39.5B | $38.3B | $44.3B | $45.6B | $42.1B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | $11.3B | 26.9% |
| 2 | Australia | $5.4B | 12.9% |
| 3 | United States | $5.1B | 12.0% |
| 4 | Japan | $2.3B | 5.5% |
| 5 | South Korea | $1.5B | 3.5% |
| 6 | Singapore | $1.0B | 2.5% |
| 7 | Indonesia | $974.4M | 2.3% |
| 8 | Other Asia, nes | $947.1M | 2.2% |
| 9 | United Kingdom | $882.0M | 2.1% |
| 10 | Malaysia | $785.8M | 1.9% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dairy Produce; Birds' Eggs; Natural Honey; Edible Products of Animal Origin, not elsewhere specified or included | $12.2B | 28.9% |
| 2 | Meat and Edible Meat Offal | $5.4B | 12.7% |
| 3 | Wood and Articles of Wood; Wood Charcoal | $2.9B | 6.9% |
| 4 | Edible Fruit and Nuts; Peel of Citrus Fruit or Melons | $2.2B | 5.1% |
| 5 | Beverages, Spirits and Vinegar | $1.5B | 3.7% |
| 6 | Preparations of Cereals, Flour, Starch or Milk; Pastrycooks' Products | $1.5B | 3.6% |
| 7 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $1.5B | 3.5% |
| 8 | Albuminoidal Substances; Modified Starches; Glues; Enzymes | $1.4B | 3.2% |
| 9 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $1.2B | 2.8% |
| 10 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $1.1B | 2.6% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Fonterra Makes Dairy New Zealand's Dominant Export
New Zealand exported $42.12 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 7.65% from $45.62 billion in 2022. Dairy produce led every category by a wide margin, at 28.90% of the total, worth $12.18 billion, more than double the next largest category. Fonterra, a cooperative owned by roughly 10,000 farmers, exports to more than 130 countries and handles around 20 million tons of raw milk worldwide, accounting for roughly a quarter of New Zealand's total exports on its own. Albuminoidal substances, a category that includes casein and whey protein concentrate, added a further 3.21% of exports ($1.35 billion). New Zealand's casein exports peaked at NZD 1.16 billion in 2015 and remained a sizable NZD 889 million by 2019. Those dairy derivatives extend the same story into a second, smaller category further down the list. New Zealand produces only a small share of the world's total milk supply. Much larger dairy regions like the European Union, the United States and India consume most of what they produce domestically. What makes New Zealand unusual is how much of its output actually crosses a border, which is why a country of just over five million people can still set the pace for global dairy trade.
Logs, Kiwifruit and Meat Round Out New Zealand's Export Base
Meat and edible offal supplied 12.72% of exports, worth $5.36 billion, New Zealand's second-largest category. Wood and articles of wood added 6.87% ($2.89 billion), with most of that trade moving as raw, unprocessed logs rather than finished, higher-value timber products. New Zealand supplies more than 70% of China's total log imports, far ahead of any other supplying country, including nearby competitors like Australia. Fruit and nuts contributed 5.11% ($2.15 billion), a category dominated by kiwifruit. New Zealand growers voted in 1988 to move to a single-desk export system after 91% of them faced losses under open competition, a structure that became Zespri International in 1997. That single-exporter model is unusual by global agricultural standards. It means nearly all of New Zealand's kiwifruit reaches world markets through one coordinated channel rather than competing exporters undercutting each other on price. Meat exports lean heavily on lamb and beef, categories long associated with New Zealand's pastoral farming sector, and much of it ships chilled or frozen to markets well beyond the South Pacific region.
Beverages, spirits and vinegar, largely wine, added 3.68% ($1.55 billion), and cereal preparations contributed 3.62% ($1.53 billion). Machinery supplied 3.50% ($1.48 billion), and fish and crustaceans added 2.82% ($1.19 billion). Commodities not specified according to kind closed out the entire top ten list at 2.64% ($1.11 billion).
China and Two Trade Agreements Anchor New Zealand's Export Markets
China bought 26.85% of New Zealand's exports in 2023, worth $11.31 billion, more than any other country. The New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement, signed and entered into force in 2008, has helped New Zealand's goods exports to China quadruple since, and China is now New Zealand's largest trading partner with more than NZ$41 billion in two-way trade. Australia followed at 12.86% ($5.42 billion), underpinned by a different agreement. The Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations agreement, signed in 1983, is recognized by the World Trade Organization as the world's most comprehensive, effective and mutually compatible free trade agreement, and trans-Tasman two-way trade reached $32.76 billion in 2024. The USA supplied 12.04% ($5.07 billion), and Japan added 5.53% ($2.33 billion). Those two trade agreements, with China and with Australia, anchor more than a third of New Zealand's entire export base between them. That level of concentration is unusual even among small, trade-dependent economies.
South Korea contributed 3.47% ($1.46 billion), and Singapore added 2.48% ($1.04 billion). Indonesia supplied 2.31% ($974 million), and a further 2.25% ($947 million) fell under "Other Asia, nes," a catch-all classification for shipments not attributed to a single specific Asian country. The United Kingdom added 2.09% ($882 million), and Malaysia rounded out the top ten at 1.87% ($786 million). Together, China, Australia and the USA made up 51.75% of total export value. Export values swung over the past five years, from $39.54 billion in 2019 to a low of $38.29 billion in 2020, then climbing to $44.33 billion in 2021 and $45.62 billion in 2022, before easing back to $42.12 billion in 2023.