Whanganui’s economy in good shape as tricky period approaches

Whanganui's population growth was above the national average last year. Photo / Bevan Conley

While 2023 is set to be a difficult economic year, there were some positive signs for Whanganui over the previous 12 months.

The latest activity report from economic development agency Whanganui & Partners showed the district’s population hit 48,700 last year - an increase of 0.6 per cent from 2021.

The national growth average was 0.2 per cent, Whanganui & Partners board chair Pahia Turia said.

“That is all internal [migration], with the borders being shut,” he said.

“Consumer spend is slowing but it’s still ahead of 2021 and ahead of Manawatū-Whanganui and national data.

“It’s likely to be a side effect of Whanganui being stable and doing well through Covid-19.”

For the year to October 2022, consumer spending in Whanganui ($639.5 million) was up 9.8 per cent on the year before. Domestic visitor spending jumped 4 per cent and international visitor spending was up 56 per cent.

However, Turia said he expected to see it slow down and decrease as the country got on top of inflation.

Last month, Whanganui mayor Andrew tripe said inflation and high-interest rates could result in significant rates rises in 2023.

Whanganui’s accommodation occupancy rate was at 51.6 per cent in October, up from 38.2 per cent at the same time in 2021.

“With a busy event season ahead, we know accommodation is still a core issue for visitor growth,” Turia said.

Occupancy statistics were based on the information given by commercial accommodation providers with at least six stay units.

Building consents issued by the Whanganui District Council fell over the later stages of 2022 but 218 residential consents were issued in the year to September.

That was up by 26 per cent on the year before.

Whanganui outperformed Manawatū-Whanganui (down -7.9 per cent) and New Zealand (up 7 per cent) in terms of residential consents.

Non-residential consents were up by 3.8 per cent in the year to September, below Manawatū-Whanganui (up 23.4 per cent) and New Zealand (up 19.2 per cent).

“There is a theme throughout the country that says although there is a number of consents going through, we aren’t necessarily seeing builds being completed as a result of increasing costs in the construction sector,” Turia said.

For the quarter ending in September, there were 2361 people receiving Jobseeker benefits, down 9.1 per cent from 2021.

Whanganui’s mean household income was up 4.9 per cent in 2022 and its per capita income was up 5.6 per cent.

Per capita income accounts for all sources of household income as well as household size.