New Zealand's unemployment rate fell from a 13-year high in the last three months of 2012 as people stopped looking for work and the participation rate shrank.

New Zealand labour costs rose in the final three months of 2012 as the gathering pace of Canterbury's reconstruction effort saw the building and construction sector underpin gains.

ASB Bank has today announced reductions to its three, four and five-year fixed home loan rates.

The number of consents issued for new homes continued a 20-month growth trend by rising again in November, show figures out today.

The world's most populous nation has toppled the UK as NZ's second-biggest pool for visitors, though still well behind Australia.

Food prices fell 0.8 per cent last month, with vegetables leading the charge. Food prices have now fallen 0.6 per cent over the past year.

New Zealand chalked up its third monthly trade deficit in October, with the annual deficit widening to $1.37 billion.

Exporters' lobby group calls for increasing population through immigration and developing bigger companies.

Aging baby boomers are pushing numbers of those aged 65 and over to unprecedented levels, adding to the financial pressure on the rest of the population.

Seasonal falls in vegetable prices took the food price index down 0.6pc last month.

Money spent by Chinese visitors to New Zealand has soared nearly 40 per cent in the past year, taking it past the UK as our second biggest source of tourism dollars.

New Zealand's population will reach 4,444,444 tomorrow, according to Government population numbers.

A support organisation for migrant parents in Auckland is experiencing a baby boom because of a surge in the number of dragon babies born to Chinese parents.

New Zealand will have more than five million people by 2031 – with almost 2 million living in Auckland, according to Statistics New Zealand projections.

The economy is growing faster than many were predicting, with GDP up 0.6 per cent in the three months to June.