Manufacturing around the country ended 2015 on a 14-month activity-high, and Otago was still in the top echelon of the four regions for December.
The BNZ-BusinessNZ manufacturing performance index nationally rose 1.8 points to 56.7, while the Otago-Southland index was down to 58 points. Scores above 50 denote expansion, and below contraction.
The sector has now been expanding continually since October 2012.
New orders were behind the strong December result, and BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said it was a good sign for upcoming output, which was already "running robustly'' in the index.
In the September index, Otago-Southland led the four areas with 60.4 points and in October that pushed out to 80.2 points.
Yesterday's December reading had the Central North Island at 52.9 points, northern North Island 60.3 points and Canterbury-Westland 56.5 points.
Mr Ebert said "As well as for its outright strength, New Zealand's manufacturing index remains notable for the way it keeps defying the struggle that global manufacturing continues to undergo''.
BusinessNZ's executive director for manufacturing Catherine Beard said the December result was an encouraging way to end the year.
"Overall, it has been a solid and positive year for the sector,'' she said.
Although the index averaged 54.2 during 2015, compared with 56 for both 2013 and 2014, the slightly lower 2015 expansion level was partly due to the first half of that year experiencing only a "a moderate patch of growth''.
