Transport services in New Zealand
New Zealand: Transport services was 19.8% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Transport services in New Zealand, 2000–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
In 2025, transport services in New Zealand stood at 19.8%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 16.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, transport services in New Zealand peaked at 35.7% in 2004 and was at its lowest, 18.4%, in 2020.
That places New Zealand 151st out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Transport services in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 32.2% | — |
| 2001 | 34.1% | +5.8% |
| 2002 | 35.2% | +3.3% |
| 2003 | 35.5% | +0.8% |
| 2004 | 35.7% | +0.5% |
| 2005 | 34.3% | -3.8% |
| 2006 | 33.8% | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 31.8% | -6.0% |
| 2008 | 31.1% | -2.1% |
| 2009 | 26.6% | -14.6% |
| 2010 | 27.8% | +4.3% |
| 2011 | 25.9% | -6.6% |
| 2012 | 25.6% | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 25.4% | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 25.0% | -1.3% |
| 2015 | 23.7% | -5.4% |
| 2016 | 22.4% | -5.3% |
| 2017 | 23.3% | +3.9% |
| 2018 | 23.2% | -0.4% |
| 2019 | 21.8% | -5.9% |
| 2020 | 18.4% | -16.0% |
| 2021 | 24.4% | +32.7% |
| 2022 | 29.8% | +22.2% |
| 2023 | 22.8% | -23.5% |
| 2024 | 19.9% | -12.5% |
| 2025 | 19.8% | -0.6% |
New Zealand compared with similar countries
- New Zealand's 19.8% is below the median for high income countries, which is 20.2%, 98% of the median. (72 countries reporting)
- New Zealand's 19.8% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 31.2%, 64% of the median. (32 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 33.0% | 26.6% | 35.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 24.4% | 21.8% | 27.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 22.5% | 18.4% | 29.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More private sector data for New Zealand
- Merchandise trade 35.7% (2025)
- Food imports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 70.7% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 47.55 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 69.0% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 14.0% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 46.70 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 8,770 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1769 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 10.43 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is transport services in New Zealand?
- Transport services in New Zealand was 19.8% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest transport services recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 35.7% in 2004.
- What is the lowest transport services recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.4% in 2020.
- How does New Zealand rank for transport services?
- New Zealand ranks 151st out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
- Is transport services rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Transport services (% of commercial service imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Transport is the process of carriage of people and objects from one location to another as well as related supporting and auxiliary services. Also included are postal and courier services. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.