Auckland economic update December 2023

Author:

Ross Wilson

Source:

Auckland Council Research and Evaluation Unit, RIMU

Publication date:

2023

Topics:

Economy

An overview of the Auckland economy for December 2023, in charts and graphs and with some commentary.

Highlights include:

real* GDP for the year ended September 2023 was 2.1% higher than for the year ended September 2022; in the rest of New Zealand, the annual change was a 1.5% rise;
real* value of retail sales for the year ended September 2023 was 1.6% lower than for the year ended September 2022; in the rest of New Zealand, the annual change was a 3.2% fall. Both growth rates were among the worst since 2009;
real* value of imports by seaports for the year ended October 2023 was $32.8 billion, which was 2.0% lower than the year ended October 2022, but 11.3% higher than 5 years ago; for the rest of New Zealand, the figure was $35.6 billion (10.0% lower than a year ago);
average weekly rent for September 2023 was $671 (4.5% higher in real* dollars than September 2022, but still slightly lower than six years ago);
number of houses sold for the year ended October 2023 was 19,642 (13% lower than a year prior, but rising for five months in a row).;
median house price for the month of October 2023 was $1,040,000 (9% lower than a year prior, in real* dollars; 29% below the 2021 peak; slightly below seven years ago; similar to the last several months;
number of dwellings consented in the year ended October 2023 was 16,669 (24% lower than year ended October 2022, continuously falling since September 2022 (21,985), but still above pre-Covid levels);
non-residential consent value in the year ended October 2023 was $2,937 million in real* dollars (8% lower than year ended October 2022 and 12% below the November 2022 peak).

*Note: real dollars are after adjusting for the effects of inflation each quarter.

Measures covered: business and consumer confidence, GDP, imports, retail sales, employment and unemployment, house prices and numbers sold, weekly rents, building consents.

December 2023

Previous 2023 updates. There is no January 2023 update.