National Accounts - Quarterlies September 2025 Data Collection

Gross domestic product: September 2025 quarter – changes and data updates Introduction Gross domestic product (GDP) sources and methods are thoroughly documented (see: Quarterly gross domestic product: Sources and methods (second edition), with a further update in Quarterly gross domestic product: Sources and methods (fifth edition). See National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): Sources and methods (fourth edition) for the data sources and methods used in estimating GDPI). Overview of sources and methods for quarterly gross domestic product: Updates and COVID-19 adjustments provides a summary of the sources and methods and also includes information about where we have used alternative indicators to better capture the impacts of COVID-19 on economic activity. The quarterly indicators used when compiling our estimates of GDP are the best that we have available at that time. We usually face trade-offs between timeliness and the quality of available data sources. As higher quality data becomes available this is incorporated into our estimates of GDP as data updates. As a result, the methods we use vary depending on the data available and are underpinned by certain assumptions. Incorporating new annual data The main driver of updates to GDP data for 2023 onwards is the incorporation, for the first time, of balanced annual data for the year ended March 2024. Each year, we make regular updates to the most recent data in the annual national accounts. These updates generally reflect more accurate data becoming available from the underlying data sources, such as the low-level financial data that becomes available with the annual enterprise survey update. The annual national accounts are released in November each year and present a comprehensive view of the economy that draws together data from more detailed but less timely sources. The availability of more detailed data allows us to understand the level of activity that has occurred over the period and reflect these in our volume estimates of quarterly and annual economic growth. National accounts (industry production and investment): Year ended March 2024 provides the annual benchmarks for GDP(P) up to the year ended March 2024. National accounts (income and expenditure): Year ended March 2025 provides the benchmarks for GDP(E) up to the year ended March 2025. Prior to annual balanced data being available, average annual growth rates are calculated from our quarterly indicators. As our quarterly indicators are mainly single indicator and output based, the incorporation of annual value-added data for selected industries can lead to updates in average annual growth rates. This is because in many cases we are now accounting for changes in intermediate consumption in those industries for the first time, as well as incorporating more detailed and better-quality data measuring output. We reconcile the quarterly measures of growth to the annual values in a process called benchmarking. This process largely preserves the pattern of quarter-on-quarter movements drawn from the quarterly indicator series but scales the series to match the level of the annual benchmark. Improvements to gross domestic product September 2025 quarter has more details on incorporating the latest balanced annual national accounts data. 2025 preview of national accounts improvements and updates has more information on the range of updates to annual national accounts statistics. Not all industries are reconciled to the annual national accounts data – some make use of other annual data sources. See Quarterly gross domestic product: Sources and methods (fifth edition) and Overview of sources and methods for quarterly gross domestic product: Updates and COVID-19 adjustments for an overview of the quarterly and annual methodologies used for GDP(P) and GDP(E). Updated annual data and weights The availability of updated annual data allows us to update the weights used to aggregate lower-level components to higher-level estimates of activity (chain linking). This ensures our estimates of economic activity reflect structural changes in the economy over time. As a result, previously published growth rates compiled from lower-level series may change when updated weights are applied. For components of GDP(P) our latest annual data and weights are for the year ended March 2024. These weights apply from the June 2024 quarter onwards. For components of GDP(E) our latest annual data and weights are for the year ended March 2025. These weights apply from the June 2025 quarter onwards. Corrections to quarterly gross domestic product Correction to food, beverage and tobacco product manufacturing We have made changes within the input data process to correctly include some of our input data, and to amend data that was incorrectly input as monthly to quarterly, both affecting the June 2025 quarter. Correction to public administration and safety We have identified a unit that was missing from the public administration and safety methodology. This has been corrected, resulting in small historic revisions. Changes due to updated indicator data Incorporating updated business financial data (BFD) Business financial data (BFD) has updated data for June 2025. This has caused changes to the manufacturing and business services industries in GDP, and manufacturing inventories and gross fixed capital formation in the expenditure measure of GDP over the same period. Business financial data: September 2025 quarter and Infoshare changes by date have more information. Incorporating updated value of building work put in place data Value of building work put in place (also known as Quarterly Building Activity Survey - QBAS) has updated data from the December 2024 quarter onwards. This has caused changes to both construction industry activity in GDP, and gross fixed capital formation in the expenditure measure of GDP over the same period. Value of building work put in place: September 2025 quarter has more information. Incorporating updated linked employer-employee data (LEED) Linked employer-employee data (LEED) is subject to a time lag and is updated each quarter. The September 2024 updates to the forecast figures resulted in revisions to the fishing industry, as well as electricity, gas, water, and waste services over the same period. Linked employer-employee data: September 2024 quarter has more information. Incorporating updated international trade data International trade data has been updated in the September 2025 quarter. These updates have flowed through to imports and exports. International trade: September 2025 quarter has more information about the changes. Other changes due to updated respondent information and other source data We received updated respondent information and other source data, causing updates to: agriculture, forestry, and fishing – updated livestock slaughter data and roundwood removal data mining – updated energy data electricity, gas, water, and waste services – updated electricity generation data wholesale trade – updated business price index (BPI) data transport, postal, and warehousing – updated road user charges data information, media, and telecommunications – updated Inland Revenue data finance and insurance – updated financial intermediation services indirectly measured (FISIM) data, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) data and international trade data rental, hiring, and real estate services – updated data from Quotable Value (QV) public admin and safety – updated employment monthly schedule (EMS) data household consumption expenditure – updated gas consumption, vehicle registration, insurance, and telecommunication data. central government final consumption expenditure – updated healthcare data inventories – updated livestock and Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) data gross fixed capital formation updated and EMS data. unallocated taxes – flow-through from updates to rental, hiring, and real estate services; finance and insurance services; household consumption expenditure; and gross fixed capital formation Other updates Updates in GDP income measure Updates to business financial data (BFD), the Quarterly Building Activity Survey (QBAS), final consumption expenditure, gross fixed capital formation, inventories, and imports and exports of goods and services will be reflected in the GDPI series. In addition, an improvement to the treatment of year-to-date transactions in government data has been incorporated into the GDPI. This has resulted in updated estimates of taxes on production and imports payable. Updates to business services We have made changes to broaden our coverage of non-market professional, scientific and technology services. This has resulted in small revisions from June 1995 quarter onwards. Updates to gross fixed capital formation (GFKF) We have improved our quarterly method for gross fixed capital formation to include quarterly data for investment on the City Rail Link project. This update accompanies changes to the treatment of the project in our annual GFKF, and impacts estimates of non-residential building and other construction GFKF. We have also updated how our compilation process includes the various indicators for government investment in other construction assets. Updates to inventories We made updates during the process of reconciling change in inventories with other movements in production and expenditure series. This process is designed to minimise inconsistencies in timing and valuation. Data updates table The table below shows previously published and updated quarterly movements for GDP and expenditure on GDP (GDE) from the March 2021 to the June 2025 quarters. While there were some changes to earlier quarters, these were less significant. All movements shown are in constant prices. Previously published and updated quarterly movements Gross domestic product Gross domestic expenditure Percentage change from previous quarter Quarter Previously published Updated 18 Dec 2025 Previously published Updated 18 Dec 2025 March 2021 2.1 2.0 2.1 2.0 June 2021 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 September 2021 -4.2 -4.3 -4.2 -4.4 December 2021 4.0 4.1 3.9 4.1 March 2022 0.0 -0.1 0.1 0.1 June 2022 1.1 0.9 1.3 1.3 September 2022 2.1 1.9 2.5 2.2 December 2022 0.0 0.2 -0.1 0.3 March 2023 -0.2 0.0 -0.4 -0.2 June 2023 0.8 0.9 1.0 0.7 September 2023 0.1 0.1 0.0 -0.1 December 2023 0.2 0.5 0.1 0.4 March 2024 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 June 2024 -0.9 -0.6 -0.8 -0.4 September 2024 -1.1 -1.3 -1.0 -1.3 December 2024 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.2 March 2025 0.9 1.1 1.2 1.2 June 2025 -0.9 -1.0 -0.9 -0.8 Source: Stats NZ en-NZ