3 September 2015

Rotorua tops New Zealand for economic growth

Rotorua has taken out New Zealand’s top spot for economic growth according to the latest national data from Wellington-based economic research company Infometrics.

Figures for the quarter to 30 June reveal Rotorua’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is, at 4.3 per cent, the highest in the country, and 0.5 per cent ahead of Christchurch in second place.

For the full year ending 30 June figures are also very healthy with GDP growth of 3.2 per cent for Rotorua, ahead of the New Zealand average of 3.1 per cent.

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick described Infometrics’ latest economic indicators as “astonishing.”

“To hold the top spot in the country in terms of economic growth is a spectacular result. It’s testament to the huge amount of hard work going on to move our economy forward. And there’s more to come yet.

“People are sitting up and taking notice of Rotorua at the moment and I’m confident that this is the start of a new era for us,” she said.

Other economic indicators released by Infometrics include promising trends for house sales. For the June quarter Rotorua house sales were up 52 per cent (282) on the same period last year, and up 17 per cent (996) for the 12 months period, compared to 8.3 per cent New Zealand-wide. House prices are now moving in the right direction with a modest 1.7 per cent growth recorded for the year.

Infometrics say Rotorua’s property market is “in good shape” and the company is forecasting further housing demand in coming months.

The company’s report shows residential building consents are also well up, with an increase of 17 per cent for the June year compared to New Zealand-wide figures of 7.9 per cent growth.

Rotorua’s tourism continues to show stellar results. For the June quarter the city recorded a 9.9 per cent hike in visitor nights (428,772 nights), the highest among the country’s top ten visitor destinations, and 8.6 per cent growth for the 12 months period.

The retail sector is another area showing solid improvement with retail spending recording a 4.5 per cent increase for the June year.

However jobs remain a challenge for Rotorua at present with the unemployment rate sitting at 7.9 per cent for the year (2.2 per cent above the national average), and the number of people actively seeking jobs up 3.1 per cent while nationally job seeker numbers have come down 3.4 per cent.

Mrs Chadwick said while the job situation was still lagging behind, it would seem likely that the increasing growth in tourism, and some of the recently announced major projects - like a new supermarket, new entertainment centre and new international hotels - will need significant numbers of employees in the near future.

“So I remain hopeful that the lag in employment growth is a temporary one and things will improve once these projects come online.

“However overall, Rotorua people can pat themselves on the back for what they are doing to drive progress, and feel confident and proud that we’re heading for much better times.”

Mrs Chadwick also paid tribute to the work of council controlled organisation Grow Rotorua and said she was looking forward to the regional growth strategy launch at the end of the month.

Operations & Monitoring Committee chairperson Janet Wepa was also upbeat about the economic growth figures at today’s committee meeting saying they were “amazing … wonderful news.“

“It’s great to see excellent results coming through already,” she said.

Rotorua Lakes Council chief executive Geoff Williams said at the meeting the results showed Rotorua was making outstanding progress.

“That progress is being assisted by a lot of people being very focussed. These include Grow Rotorua working on a number of initiatives, and with investors on complex business cases. The airport company and Destination Rotorua are making a major difference in their areas. Our Strategy group has a lot of work underway for economic development. The list goes on.

“All of these activities are aligned to drive economic development. We’ve been very careful about how we coordinate, and to take a longer term perspective. Early next year we will be ready to show how we’re going to take the next step forward.”

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