Economic history of New Zealand

The economic history of New Zealand dates to before European colonisation of the country. By the 20th century, it had become one of the most globalized economies in the world, relying heavily on international trade with developed countries including Australia, Canada, China, European Union, the United States, Japan, and South Korea. It is a mixed economy that functions on free-market principles and has a sizable manufacturing and service sector and an efficient agricultural sector.^[1] New Zealand has the 54th largest export economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic product. In 2016, New Zealand exported a total of NZ$35.1billion and imported a total of NZ$35.4 billion, with its top exports being concentrated milk and the top imports being cars.^[2] New Zealand has an extremely diverse market economy with a sizable service sector that accounted for 63% of all GDP in 2013. Other industries including mining, manufacturing, waste services, electricity and gas accounted for 16.5% of GDP in 2013 while the primary sector only accounted for 6.5% of GDP, despite continually dominating New Zealand's exports.^[3] The biggest capital market for New Zealand is known as the New Zealand Exchange. As of June 2018 the NZX had listed over 300 securities with a market capitalization of NZD $164.5 billion.^[4]