New Zealand posted a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$469 million in May, Statistics New Zealand said on Friday.
That was up from the upwardly revised NZ$414 million surplus in April (originally NZ$388 million).
Imports skyrocketed NZ$1.3 billion of 31 percent on year to NZ$5.4 billion, up from the upwardly revised NZ$4.99 billion figure in the previous month (originally NZ$4.98 billion).
"May 2021 had the largest all-time value in imports of cars for any month," international trade manager Alasdair Allen said. "The big monthly rise in vehicle imports was largely due to a recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic."
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