An overall fall in exports for the December 2016 quarter has been partly offset by a nearly 10 per cent rise in dairy exports, says Statistics New Zealand today.

Exports fell 0.8 percent to $12 billion in the December 2016 quarter, after adjusting for typical seasonal trade patterns.

During the same quarter milk powder, butter, and cheese, NZ's largest export commodity group, rose $262 million (9.6 percent) from the September 2016 quarter.

While dairy exports have been rising since the March 2016 quarter they are still 28 percent lower than the high of the December 2013 quarter.

'In the past few years, dairy prices have been lower while quantities have generally been rising,” says international statistics manager Nicola Growden. 'This quarter, quantities are down but a higher price means values still rose.”

Crude oil led the fall in exports this quarter, down by an unadjusted 37 percent ($76 million). The value of crude oil annual exports has been falling since the high of 2008 ($2.8 billion), and was $583 million in 2016. This is the lowest annual crude oil value since 2006 ($484 million). The amount of crude oil exported has been falling since the high of 2008, and is now 52 percent lower than it was eight years ago.

Other key movements in the December 2016 quarter include a fall in the value of forestry product exports, down 5.4 percent ($58 million) to $1.0 billion, and a rise in the value of fruit, up 20 percent ($130 million) to $794 million.

The seasonally adjusted value of goods imports fell 1.9 percent, to $13 billion, led by a fall in capital goods.

The seasonally adjusted quarterly trade deficit was $1.0 billion, equivalent to 8.5 percent of exports.

The two top export commodities, meat and dairy, both fell by value in 2016.

The total value of all export goods was $48.4 billion for the year ended December 2016, down $544 million from the previous year. This is the second annual fall in a row for export value. The latest annual total is $1.6 billion less than the high of the 2014 year.

The second largest export group, meat and edible offal had biggest fall in value, with sales down $909 million to $5.9 billion. The fall in meat was driven by beef (down $481 million) and lamb (down $415 million). The United States accounted for three-quarters of the fall in beef, while the European Union (EU) accounted for nearly half of the fall in lamb. The amount of meat fell 7.4 percent from 2015, with beef falling 14 percent and lamb falling 4.6 percent.

'The large fall in meat exports for 2016 reflects a decline from the record meat season in 2015 for both value and quantity,” says Nicola. 'The 2016 year's meat exports have returned to levels similar to those seen in 2014.”

The quantity of milk powder, butter, and cheese exported rose to a new high of 3.0 million tonnes, despite a near 3 percent fall in the value of dairy exports to $11.2 billion.

The quantity of milk powder, butter, and cheese has been rising since 2013 and is now 14 percent higher than it was then. The quantity exported to China was 25 percent of the total in 2016, slightly up from 23 percent in 2015.

The value of imported goods was $51.6 billion in 2016, down $883 million (1.7 percent) from the high of the December 2015 year. The fall was led by cheaper oil and petrol, and partly offset by a rise in cars, trucks, and parts.

Oil and petrol fell $840 million in 2016, mainly due to crude oil (down $666 million). The value of crude oil has been falling for the past four years, and is now 55 percent lower than the 2012 value ($5.7 billion). The amount of crude oil imported rose 2.3 percent in 2016, and has been increasing for the past two years.

In 2016 there was an annual trade deficit of $3.2 billion (6.6 percent of exports). This is smaller than the deficit of $3.5 billion for the December 2015 year. The trade shortfall in 2015 was the largest December year deficit since 2008.