Waimakariri District Economy Holding its Own

The Waimakariri District Quarterly Economic Monitor to June 2023 was released last week, commissioned by the Waimakariri District Council.

The report shows Waimakariri’s GDP up 4.3% on last year, compared to 3.1% for New Zealand as a whole.

Enterprise North Canterbury Business Support Manager Miles Dalton says, “Overall, Waimakariri continues to punch above its weight, continuing to be in a strong position relative to the rest of New Zealand. Even the areas that look weak on the surface – such as car registrations [down 7.1%] and residential building consents [down 16.5%] – aren’t too bad; they’re just down on the very strong position they were in a year ago.”

In addition to an increased GDP the latest statistics show consumer spending, tourism expenditure, guest nights and employment are all up, with non-residential building consents topping the list at a 90.2% increase on last year.

“There is a lot of large-scale business development going on in the district, which is really exciting, hence the huge increase in non-residential building consents,” explains Miles.

Conversely, house sales, house values and commercial vehicle registrations are all down on last year, in line with the rest of New Zealand.

“One item of note is the projected dairy payout of $7 next year,” says Miles. “That is seriously painful for a lot of our farmers, so we will wait to see how this impacts the wider economy.”

Read the full Infometrics Waimakariri District Economic Monitor here.