WELLINGTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's imports rose 11 percent in the year ended July 2026, driven largely by higher fuel prices, official data showed on Friday.
Total imports were valued at 89.8 billion NZ dollars (53.6 billion U.S. dollars), up 9 billion NZ dollars from a year earlier, Stats NZ said in a statement.
Petroleum and petroleum products led the increase, up 23 percent to 12.1 billion NZ dollars, with higher prices for diesel, petrol and jet fuel contributing to the gain, said the statistics department.
"Fuel accounted for one quarter of the increase in the total value of imports in the year ended July 2026," Stats NZ international accounts spokesperson Shanna Dilworth was quoted as saying.
South Korea and Singapore supplied almost 80 percent of the total value of New Zealand's fuel imports during the period, while imports from Malaysia and Japan also rose sharply, Stats NZ said.
New Zealand's total exports increased 10.3 percent to 84.6 billion NZ dollars during the 12-month period, led by higher exports of meat and edible offal, gold, milk powder, butter and cheese, statistics showed.
New Zealand's crude oil exports rose 4.3 percent to 654 million NZ dollars during the period, with South Korea the leading destination, followed by Australia, the department said. ■