New Zealand's terms of trade jumped 4.9 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the previous quarter, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday, due to rising export prices and falling import prices.
The headline figure beat forecasts for an increase of 3.8 percent following the 4.1 percent quarterly gain in the previous three months.
Terms of trade is a measure of the purchasing power of New Zealand's exports abroad. An increase means that New Zealand can buy more imports for the same amount of exports.
The terms of trade rose for the second consecutive quarter but is still 2.5 percent below the 37-year high reached two years ago.
"The terms of trade increase of 4.9 percent reflected higher dairy prices," prices manager Chris Pike said. "Without dairy, the terms of trade would have risen 1.6 percent."
In the second quarter, export prices were up 3.4 percent, while import prices dipped 1.5 percent. Seasonally adjusted, export volumes fell 6.7 percent and import volumes rose 3.9 percent, influenced by capital goods, the bureau said.
Dairy exports made a significant contribution to both prices and seasonally adjusted volumes, with milk powder being the largest contributor, the bureau said.
In Q2, dairy export prices rose 14 percent, while seasonally adjusted volumes fell 18 percent and seasonally adjusted values fell 6.8 percent.
The price and volume indexes for exports and imports of goods are compiled mainly from overseas merchandise trade data.
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