Food and fibre produced by our primary industries continue to underpin the NZ economy.
The latest Situation and Outlook report from MPI (click on the link to read to 154 pages!) shows that $52.2 billion and 81.8% of our export revenue is contributed by the primary sector.
Contrary to what some people think the other sectors of the economy have not been catching up – in fact for nine out of the past ten years the rate of growth in exports from the primary sector has exceeded that of non-primary.
Another stat to remember is that over 13% of the NZ workforce is involved in primary production – including inside and outside the farmgate.
What about carbon emissions? Agriculture accounts for around half of NZ’s emissions. Between 2015-2020 carbon equivalent emissions from the food & fibre sector have FALLEN by 1.2%. In that same period more new cars and trucks hit the city roads than ever before. So who’s not doing their bit to curb emissions?
