The report finds that in 2023 average earnings are 20.6% higher than in the year to March 2019, with inflation (CPI) increasing 18.7% over the same period.
This was driven by a significant increase in earnings between March 2022 (6.2%) and 2023 (7.6%). The 2023 increase was the highest this century.
Earnings growth across the rest of New Zealand followed a similar trend, the report notes.
It also found that in 2023, the region’s economy grew faster than the rest of the country, generating $143 billion in GDP.
This was 10% higher than the 2019 value of $130b (in real terms), reflecting a compounding average annual real growth of 1.9% during that period.
However, GDP data included in the report only runs to the end of the March 2023 year. Since then, there has been a recession and marked slowdown in economic activity nationwide.
The report found Auckland currently contributes 38% of New Zealand’s total GDP, significantly higher its share of the population (33%), and more than double the contribution of Wellington, the next largest region.
Auckland’s estimated population in 2023 was 1.74 million, lifted by strong migration growth.
Auckland’s largest industries by GDP are “professional, scientific and technical services”, and “financial and insurance services”, contributing a combined $29b in GDP in the year to March 2023.
Industries providing high-value services accounted for 32% of Auckland’s GDP in the year to March 2023, compared to 24% for the rest of New Zealand.
Auckland’s economy is well diversified, the report says.
The largest industry (”professional, scientific and technical services”) contributes 11% of Auckland’s GDP.
The three industries which grew the most between 2019 and 2023 are all high-value services industries, namely “information media and telecommunications” (25%), “professional, scientific and technical services” (24%), and “healthcare and social assistance” (17%).
“These industries may have been less impacted by Covid-19 than ‘blue collar’ industries,” the report notes.
Construction was the fastest-growing industry in the years before Covid-19, but similar growth has not been evident more recently.
“That reflects its cyclical nature, with current forecasts suggesting a further decline in real GDP terms over the next few years,” the report’s authors conclude.
While most Auckland industries have increased their GDP (in real terms) since 2019, some have not: “manufacturing”, “transport, postal and warehousing”, “education and training” and “agriculture, forestry and fishing” have all declined (in real terms).
While Auckland’s five largest employing industries (professional, scientific and technical services; construction; health care and social assistance; retail trade; and manufacturing) remained the same as before the pandemic, industries such as hospitality, logistics and arts and recreation saw subdued employment growth from 2019 to 2023 compared to the 2015 to 2019 period.
Education, administration and support services (including travel agency and tour arrangement services) and information media and telecommunications now employ less people than they did in 2019.
Tourism has started to recover but slowly. The year to March 2024 saw 2.2 million international visitor arrivals, an increase of 48.7% on the previous 12 months but still down 13.6% compared to the year ended March 2020.
In the year to March 2023, Auckland’s exports grew by 16%, surpassing the increase across the rest of New Zealand of 11%. However, Auckland’s total exports were still 10% below 2019 levels, while exports from other regions in New Zealand have rebounded more swiftly.
