New Zealand imports continue to recover with large increases in May: statistics

WELLINGTON, June 25 (Xinhua) -- A large rise in vehicles, parts and accessories drove the increase in total goods imports in May 2021, but this large increase was partly offset by decreases in textiles and food wastes, New Zealand's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.

The monthly value of goods imports in May 2021 rose 31 percent from May 2020 to 5.4 billion NZ dollars (3.8 billion U.S. dollars), Stats NZ said.

"May 2021 had the largest all-time value in imports of cars for any month," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said in a statement.

"The big monthly rise in vehicle imports was largely due to a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic," Allen said, adding there were increases of car imports from all the major trading partners such as Japan, the European Union and the United States.

Monthly goods exports were up 461 million NZ dollars (326 million U.S. dollars) to 5.9 billion NZ dollars (4.17 billion U.S. dollars). This was driven by dairy products, which was up 12 percent from May 2020, he said.

Dairy export values and volumes both rose in May 2021, compared with the same month a year before, statistics show.

The exports increase was also driven by logs, wood, and wood articles, Allen said.