Trading Partner Portal: New Zealand
Governor Newsom meets with New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon, reaffirms climate partnership
GO-Biz, July 12, 2024
Trade Overview
New Zealand, whose capital city is Wellington, is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. It is approximately the size of Colorado and has a population of roughly 5.32 million. The country is divided into two major islands. The North Island is home to approximately 78 percent of the population while the South Island boasts a larger land mass with varied topography from deep fjords to many steep mountain peaks.
U.S. Department of State
New Zealand is a strong advocate for free trade and was the first developed county to enter into a free trade agreement with the People’s Republic of China. New Zealand also has free trade agreements with Singapore, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia and the ASEAN nations. www.newzealand.com
New Zealand’s number one export is agriculture. Leading agricultural exports include dairy products, meat, forest products, fruit and vegetables, fish, and wool. According to the most recent figures, New Zealand has a GDP of $264.06 billion.
U.S. – New Zealand Trade
In 2025, two-way goods trade between New Zealand and the U.S. was roughly $9.70 billion, with the United States exporting nearly $4.11 billion to New Zealand. Goods exported consisted of transportation equipment ($1.23 billion), other special classification provisions ($390 million), non-electrical machinery ($384 million), computer and electronic products ($353 million), and chemicals ($351 million).
In this same year, the U.S. imported nearly $5.59 billion worth of goods, with a large portion of the imports being $2.82 million in processed foods. Other top imports included beverages and tobacco products ($495 million), computer and electronic products ($332 million), non-electrical machinery ($324 million), and agricultural products ($279 million).
Total services trade between the U.S. and New Zealand in 2025 was roughly $6.99 billion, with exports totaling $4.02 billion. Top export services from the u.S. to New Zealand were travel, financial services, transport services, telecommunication services, and insurance services.
Service imports from New Zealand to the U.S. totaled $2.98 billion in the same year. Top imports were travel, transport services, insurance services, financial services, and telecommunications, computer, & information services.
New Zealand – California Trade
California exported approximately $576 million in goods to New Zealand in 2025, with it being the number one exporter to New Zealand out of all 50 states. Top exports included processed foods ($103 million), computer & electronic products ($78 million), transportation equipment ($75 million), agriculture products ($57 million), and electrical equipment, appliances, & components ($56 million).
California imported $1.41 billion from New Zealand in 2025, with processed foods making up $680 million of the total. Other top imports were beverages and tobacco products ($215 million), agricultural products ($17 million), computer and electronic products ($57 million), and fish and other marine products ($56 million). U.S. Department of Commerce
FDI – New Zealand
U.S. FDI in New Zealand totaled $8.07 billion in 2025, while New Zealand FDI in the U.S. totaled $3.62 billion. New Zealand FDI supported 16,300 jobs in the U.S. and contributed $537 billion to expanding U.S. exports. Contributions of roughly $45 million were in innovative research and development.
The top industry sectors for New Zealand FDI in the U.S. were: software and IT services, transportation, communications, plastics, business services, and medical devices. (Select USA)
CalChamber Resources
Business
- U.S. Commercial Service in New Zealand
- Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce
- Invest in New Zealand
- New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
- Tourism New Zealand