South Waikato economic growth double national average
The latest data* shows that economic growth in the South Waikato is almost double the economic growth at a national level.
The South Waikato economy improved by 4.6% compared to the national growth of 2.5% over the same period. This shows a huge improvement from our average economic growth over the past 10 years of just 0.1%.
"Large scale examples of this growth can be seen in the farming sector that continues to strengthen, new business development like Blue Pacific Minerals and further growth in the dairy industry with the new Fonterra dryer," said Craig Hobbs, Council's Chief Executive. "Smaller business growth is also evident with new restaurants, hairdressers and hotel development."
Mr Hobbs believes this is a positive sign of a great more things to come. "We look forward to the spin-off from the new road rail terminal being built in Tokoroa making further impact."
Our primary industries (industries that extract or harvest products from the earth) accounted for a massive 31.1% of our total economic wealth, compared with 7.4% nationally. And secondary industries (at 26%) (industries that produce manufactured/processed goods) also topped the national average by almost 6%.
"This again shows how strong our farming, forestry and engineering sectors are," said Mr Hobbs. "Council's continued focus on growing our economy through facilitating business development, identifying appropriate industrial land for development and continued liaison with potential investors is key."
While the employment figure increase of just 0.3% appears low, when viewed in context of the average over the past 10 years at -0.9%, it shows employment in the district is moving in the right direction.
Council expects to see this rise even more as a result of the large Fonterra development at Lichfield.
"While attracting new businesses is key to continued success, figures also show that more people in the South Waikato are self-employed than nationally, 19.7% vs 16.5%, a testament to our entrepreneurial spirit," continued Mr Hobbs.
When it comes to housing, the South Waikato again stands out. Median house price in our district is $132,250, compared to a national median of $454,275!
"One could perhaps say well of course that is obvious given our housing stock compared with the likes of Auckland and Wellington," said Mr Hobbs. "However data also looks at local house prices compared to annual earnings of the people living in an area. For the South Waikato, affordability is exceptionally strong compared to the New Zealand average which basically means that housing is far more affordable for our people than nationally."
* Infometrics - Annual Profile 2014
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