LEADER COLUMN MARCH 2012

The release of Northland’s 2011 Economic Profile (Infometrics Limited) once again highlights both the challenges facing Whangarei District, the importance of Whangarei to Northland’s overall economy and future opportunities to grow. GDP in Whangarei measured $1,897m in the year to March 2011, up 1.4% from a year earlier. This growth ranked us at number 34 compared with the other 72 territorial authorities in New Zealand. Manufacturing made the largest contribution to overall growth with 21.3% of total GDP. The other major contributors were business and property services (10.6%) and wholesale and retail trade (9.8%). Industries highlighted as having the largest comparative advantages were petroleum, chemical, plastic, rubber manufacturing, non-metallic mineral products manufacturing, and forestry and logging. This report outlined the performance of individual sectors and industry compared with last year and the overall performance over the last ten years. For example Whangarei's agriculture sector declined by 1.8% in 2011 compared with growth of 1% in the sector nationally. This sector contributed 4.6% to the district's economy in 2011, down from 6.8% ten years ago. The agriculture sector employed an average of 1,926 persons in Whangarei in 2011 which was down from 2,002 in 2010. Forestry by comparison contributed 2.7% to the district's economy in 2011 and grew by 17.8% in 2011 compared with growth of 10.5% in the sector nationally. There was an average of 205 jobs in forestry up from 172 in 2010. We still have one of the more diverse economies in New Zealand and once again we have experienced a decline in business growth with 9,195 business units were recorded was down 2.2% from a year earlier. The number of business units in New Zealand declined by 0.6% over the same period The total employment in Whangarei averaged 33,682 in the March 2011 year, down 1.9% from a year earlier. Employment in New Zealand increased by 0.2% over the same period. Tertiary industries accounted for the largest proportion of employment (72%) in Whangarei, which is lower than in the national economy (74%). Communication services made the largest contribution to employment growth the industry adding 44 jobs over the last 12 months. Not surprisingly construction was the largest detractor from growth a decline in employment of 319. I would suggest that anyone interested in what are the potential key economic drivers for Whangarei read this document and consider how this is likely to affect them and their business.