New Zealand posted its smallest November trade deficit in four years, beating economist forecasts, as falling dairy prices were offset by a rise in meat exports.
The country's trade deficit narrowed to $213 million last month, the smallest November deficit since 2010 and down from October's deficit of $908 million. A deficit of $500 million was expected last month, based on a Reuters poll of economists.
The trade balance was a surplus of $153 million in November last year - the first surplus for that month since 1991 - when exports were at record highs, according to Statistics New Zealand.
Exports fell 9.5 per cent to $4.02 billion from the same month a year earlier, beating the Reuters poll of $3.95 billion. Imports slipped 1.3 per cent to $4.24 billion.
New Zealand benefited from strong terms of trade in the first half of the year as demand for dairy products and logs in China bolstered exports, while a historically high kiwi dollar has kept down the cost of imported goods. Dairy prices have nearly halved since the start of the year, as an oversupply in China weakened demand and pushed down prices, coinciding with a fall in log prices, easing the country's trade outlook, and weighing on the currency.