Increased tourism numbers highlighted in economic report
Taranaki’s economy followed an unspectacular but steady path across the last financial quarter with some positive signs starting to emerge through an increased tourism market.
Regional development agency Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki delivered its summer edition of economic trends in the region on Tuesday at its Outlook 2024 event in New Plymouth.
The six-monthly publication explores how the region’s economy is tracking.
While the annual average growth of of the region’s gross domestic product was up 0.5% for the year to September, to $10,083 million, it was provisionally lower than the national level of 1.7%.
There was also a slight increase in the number of people employed in the region, up 1.5% to 63,872, although that too was lower than New Zealand levels of 2.5%.
“Manufacturing makes the largest contribution to employment growth in Taranaki, followed by construction and health care industries, showing there is still a need for specific workforce skills in the region,” Venture Taranaki deputy chief executive Stacey Hitchcock said in a statement.
Despite a lift in the number of people in jobs, there were 4,389 people in Taranaki receiving jobseeker support in December, up 3.1% compared with the last quarter.
The annual average unemployment rate in Taranaki was 3.8% in the year to December, up from 2.9% in the previous 12 months.
The rebounding of the tourism sector post-covid continued, with the total tourism spend in Taranaki estimated to be $491m across the year to the end of September, up from $387m a year ago.
Figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment showed international tourists spent $94m in the region for the year to October, an increase of 112% compared to the same period the previous year.
The report said the most recent tourism data for the end of year 2023 and early January was not yet available, but the agency anticipated it would have been a busy summer period for the region.
The increase in tourism spend was reflected in the passenger numbers through New Plymouth Airport which reached 30,343 for January, a 9% increase on the same month last year.
Venture Taranaki’s report also delved into the region’s population trends, with an estimated 128,700 people estimated to live in the province as of June last year.
That figure was up 1.1% from the previous year and was made up through the internal net migration of 210 people, international net migration of 760 people and a natural increase of 340.
Average individual and household income was also reported, with the former at $71,382, which was below the national average of $74,754, while the latter was $108,050, also below the national average of $127,423.