Browse Data and Analysis

This report lists the major export certificates and other documentation required by the Government of New Zealand for U.S. exporters and food and agricultural products.

U.S. food and agricultural products have continued to prove popular in the New Zealand market, and in 2022 the value of these products was a record US$ 629 million, US$ 413 million of which were consumer-oriented products.

FAS/Wellington’s New Zealand milk production forecast is raised for 2023 to 21.5 million metric tons (MMT) as a result of favorable pasture growing conditions entering the year and strong milk production during the first four months of 2023.

New Zealand apple production in 2022/23 has been revised down sharply as a result of the damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle, which hit the nation’s largest apple growing and exporting region – Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne – in February.

Despite being a small country, New Zealand is a major exporter of food and beverage products, and many of these products are manufactured in-country requiring inputs imported from other suppliers.

Since hitting peak numbers in 2016, the New Zealand national cattle herd has been very gradually declining and this is expected to continue in 2023.

New Zealand grain and feed import volumes in 2022 rose to the highest level ever, importing 3.7 million metric tons (MMT), up 13 percent from the previous year. National grain and feed demand continues to outstrip domestic supply by nearly double, with New Zealand producing 2.1 MMT in 2022, but consuming an estimated 5.8 MMT.

The Government of New Zealand has passed legislation that will restrict a wide range of plastic products to be sold in New Zealand, including non-compostable produce stickers.

With the start of 2023, New Zealand has begun to experience a nation-wide egg shortage, which follows price rises for eggs during the last year. Contributing factors for the price increase and supply shortfall are labor shortages in laying operations...

New Zealand is by far the largest exporter of deer meat and products in the world. The first commercial deer farm in New Zealand was established in the early 1970s and since then, the industry has grown into an on-average NZ$280 million (US$175 million) per year export earner for the country’s agricultural sector.

New Zealand is the second largest exporter of lamb meat in the world, only slightly below Australia, and also one of the top exporters of wool. Today the national sheep herd is far less than half of its peak of approximately over 70 million in the 1980s, having declined to only 26 million today. Despite the national flock continuing to decline, during the last decade meat production and exports have remained stable.

New Zealand continues to be an important market for U.S. agricultural products. In 2021, despite logistical and other challenges because of COVID-19, New Zealand’s imports continued to grow to a record US$ 625 million of U.S. agricultural products.