Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand

Part of a series on the
COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 (disease) SARS-CoV-2 (virus) Cases Deaths
Timeline 2019 2020 January responses February responses March responses April responses May responses June responses July responses August responses September responses October responses November responses December responses 2021 January responses February responses March responses April responses May responses June responses July responses August responses September responses October responses November responses December responses 2022 January responses February responses March responses April responses May responses June responses July responses August responses September responses October responses November December 2023 2024
Locations By country and territory Africa Antarctica Asia Europe North America Oceania South America By conveyance Cruise ships Naval ships
International response Endemic phase Evacuations Face masks International aid Origin Lockdowns by country Misinformation by governments Fake treatments Social distancing Software Travel United Nations World Health Organization WTO IP waiver Undercounting of deaths COVID-19 apps Zero-COVID National responses Africa China European Union Germany Ghana India Ireland Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Philippines Russia Sweden UK government US federal government Vietnam
Medical response Disease testing Breathalyzer Development Drug development Drug repurposing Public health mitigation Vaccines History Research VITT Deployment Authorizations Operation Warp Speed Misinformation and hesitancy US Vaccine card Vaccine passports Current vaccines CoronaVac Covaxin Convidecia Janssen Medigen Moderna Novavax Oxford–AstraZeneca Pfizer–BioNTech Sinopharm BIBP Sputnik V
Variants Variants of concern Alpha Beta Gamma Delta Omicron Other variants Epsilon Zeta Eta Theta Iota Kappa Lambda Mu Cluster 5 Lineage B.1.617
Economic impact and recession Arts and culture Aviation Cannabis Cinema films Disney Fashion Financial markets Food industry Food security Journalism Music Performing arts Retail Shipping Television US sportscasting programs Tourism Video games By country Canada India Ireland Malaysia New Zealand Russia UK US By sport Association football Baseball Basketball Combat sports Cricket Disc golf Gaelic games Gridiron football Ice hockey Motorsport Rugby league
Impacts Animals Alzheimer's disease patients Black people Crime Death rates by country Disability Domestic violence Emergency evacuations Education Female Environment Hospitals Language LGBT community Long-term care Media coverage Mental health symptoms Migration Military Notable deaths Other health issues Politics diplomacy Popular culture Protests Pregnancy Prisons Religion Catholic Church Hajj Science and technology Social media Strikes Suicides Telehealth Xenophobia and racism Society Ireland Malaysia New Zealand Russia UK US
COVID-19 portal
v t e

The article's lead section may need to be rewritten. The reason given is: Needs 2021 information. Also should have less 2020 information such as specific alert level changes. Please help improve the lead and read the lead layout guide. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The global COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the New Zealand economy. New Zealand has a mixed economy – a free market with some state ownership and control.^[1] In mid-March 2020, the New Zealand Government imposed a four-tier alert level system, which placed much of the country's economy into lockdown with the exception of "essential services" such as supermarkets.^[2][3] Due to the success of the Government's elimination strategy, lockdown restrictions on various economic activities were progressively lifted between April and June 2020.^[4][5]

Although somewhat abruptly sidelined from their normal influence within the New Zealand economy, representatives of the business sector continued to feature in media reporting: lobbying against perceived discrepancies in various industries,^[6] publicising habitual evaluations such as business-confidence indicators^[7][8] and economic outlooks,^[9] and itching for an early return to "business as usual".^[10]

On 17 September 2020, New Zealand economy officially entered into a recession, with the country's gross domestic product contracting by 12.2% in the June quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The retail, accommodation, hospitality, and transportation sectors were adversely affected by the international travel ban and a strict nationwide lockdown.^[11][12][13]

After successfully containing the virus, the New Zealand economy had sharp growth in what is known as a V-shaped recovery and ended the year with an overall economic expansion of 0.4%, better than the predicted 1.7% contraction.^[14] Unemployment also dropped to 4.9% in December 2020, down from a peak Covid effected rate of 5.3% in September.^[15]

By mid–September 2021, the Restaurant Association's Chief executive Marisa Bidois estimated that about 1,000 hospitality businesses nationwide had been forced to close as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the loss of 13,000 jobs. This has led the Association to lobby the Government for continued wage subsidies and incentives to boost customer rates.^[16] By mid–November 2021, the Bay of Plenty Times reported that 26,774 companies had been liquidated by August 2021.^[17]

In early February 2022, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) identified the country's border restrictions and declining house prices as the major risks to the New Zealand economy that year. While the OECD report credited New Zealand's elimination strategy, wage and socio-economic subsidies with helping the economy to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, it also warned that excessive Government spending was causing the economy to overheat and raising debt levels. The OECD welcomed the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to raise interest rates but also urged the Government to raise the superannuation age, ease building restrictions, and reduce government spending.^[18]

In late October 2022, the New Zealand Government ended its COVID-19 "handouts" programme for businesses. Stuff reported a 48% increase in formal insolvency proceedings in the third quarter of 2022, taking the total of business insolvencies that year to 384. In addition, receivership rates increased by 243% to 24 while voluntary administrations rose by 60% to eight. The transport and delivery sectors reported a 229% increase insolvency proceedings due to a shortage of drivers. The building services and construction sectors reported 50 and 107 insolvencies respectively, citing the economic and labour challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[19]