On Thursday, Stats NZ confirmed the Kiwi economy contracted by 0.2 per cent in the quarter to June, and 0.2 in the previous 12 months.

It is the fifth quarter in the last seven that GDP figures have been in the red, confirming an economy in retreat, ravaged by high interest rates.

Even more dire was the GDP per head result, an 0.5 per cent fall, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of negative results.

The GDP per capita figures show the Kiwi economy has essentially been propped up by bumper migration in the past two years.

Leading the losses in the June quarter were primary industries, with agriculture dropping 1.4 per cent and mining by 3.7 per cent.

The services sector – which makes up three-quarters of the Kiwi economy – was flat, though wholesale and retail trade also both fell by 1.3 per cent.

“Activity in retail trade and wholesale trade has been in steady decline since 2022,” Stats NZ’s Ruvani Ratnayake said.

NZ’s June quarter result is at odds with developed countries it compares itself to, with Australia (0.2 per cent), Canada (0.5 per cent), the UK (0.6 per cent) and the OECD (0.5 per cent) all booking increases.

The poor result could have been even worse.

The market consensus was for a 0.4 per cent fall in the quarter, with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) tipping 0.5 per cent.

The central bank believes this contraction will form a part of New Zealand’s third technical recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

In the December 2022 and March 2023 quarters, New Zealand went backwards 0.5 and 0.3 per cent, while in the September and December 2023 quarters, GDP fell 0.3 and 0.1 per cent.

In a forecast last month – as it cut the official cash rate (OCR) for the first time since the pandemic – the RBNZ tipped an 0.5 per cent contraction in the June 2024 quarter and another 0.2 per cent reverse next quarter.

The RBNZ has the OCR at 5.25 per cent and is widely backed to cut interest rates further at its next meetings.