A record number of Chinese visitors and a weakening New Zealand dollar helped drive down New Zealand's current account deficit in the quarter ending September, according to figures out Wednesday.
The current account deficit of 1.8 billion NZ dollars (1.21 billion U.S. dollars) in the September quarter, was down by 332 million NZ dollars (224.43 million U.S. dollars) from the June quarter, according to the government's Statistics New Zealand agency.
The fall in the deficit was due to a rise in export earnings outweighing the increase in overseas expenditure.
Exports of services reached 5.2 billion NZ dollars (3.51 billion U.S. dollars) in the September quarter, driven by an increase in travel services exports, which measure overseas visitor spending in New Zealand.
"Overseas visitor spending is driving our services surplus, which has grown each quarter since December 2013," international statistics manager Jason Attewell said in a statement.
"On average, visitors spent more per person this quarter than last, which was the key driver for the increase in total expenditure."
The New Zealand dollar depreciated against most of major currencies in the quarter, which caused the exchange rate to rise.
"The falling New Zealand dollar may also have been a factor in attracting visitors to New Zealand as the better exchange rate meant visitors could get more for their money," Attewell said.
New Zealand's annual current account deficit was 8.1 billion NZ dollars (5.47 billion U.S. dollars), or 3.3 percent of gross domestic product, in the year to the end of September, down from a deficit of 8.3 billion NZ dollars (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) for the year ended June.
A report from the ASB Bank said the falling deficit was due to annual tourist arrivals jumping by 8.5 percent to more than 3 million over the September 2014 year.
"All major markets posted higher arrivals for the year, but the Chinese market has been a standout; annual Chinese arrivals surged over 35 percent for the September year, and China now accounts for around 11 percent of tourist arrivals," it said.
