Waikato regional economic profile - Waikato Regional Council

3 Export sectors3.1 SummaryIncreasing the value of international exports is important to achieving New Zealand’seconomic growth objectives and this chapter discusses a number of the Waikatoregion’s export sectors in detail. Dairy cattle farming, livestock and cropping farmingand forestry have been identified as making up a significant proportion of the region’sproductive land use and they provide inputs into high value food manufacturing andwood product manufacturing. They have also contributed to Waikato’s strength in highvalue manufacturing and services. The region’s international exports have grown in allof these sectors and it is possible to increase sustainably the value of these exportsthrough innovation because of their relationship to Waikato’s education, research andcommercialisation strengths. Aquaculture is an emerging sector with some exportpotential and tourism is part of the strategies of many parts of the region.3.2 International and inter-regional exportsThe value of international exports from the Waikato region in 2007 (the last year forwhich data are available currently) was $2.383 billion. The largest proportion (39 percent) came from Hamilton city. The largest exporting industry sectors were dairyproduct manufacturing (22 per cent), meat products (9 per cent) and wholesale trade (9per cent), as shown in table 3.The value of Waikato’s inter-regional exports (i.e. to other parts of New Zealand) in2007 was $4.422 billion. More than 80 per cent of this was dairy products. Asapproximately 95 per cent of New Zealand’s dairy produce is exported rather thanconsumed by domestic customers 38 , it is reasonable to infer that most of this wasexported also.Table 3: Exports from the Waikato region in 2007Sector groupInternationalexports($millions)Interregional exports($millions)Dairy products 419 3,564Wholesale & retail trade 350 23Meat manufacturing 285 70Business & finance services 166 21Equipment manufacturing 148 16Metal manufacturing 134 16Wood & paper manufacturing 127 86Accommodation, restaurants andbars122 2Food & beverage manufacturing 118 1Other agriculture 111 105Other manufacturing 106 11Transport & storage 98 6Other services 89 117Health & Education 69 60Forestry and logging 30 158Electricity, water & gas supply 13 167Grand Total 2,383 4,42238International Dairy Federation (2010) NZ dairy statistics.Doc # 2069885 Page 21