The terms of trade fell 1.8% in the quarter, more than expected, ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said yesterday.
Dairy, meat and forestry shipments led the drop.
The terms of trade is a measure of the purchasing power of New Zealand’s exports.
Disruptions caused by earthquake damage to the government statistician’s Wellington building meant Statistics New Zealand was not able to provide seasonally adjusted figures as it usually did for each quarter.
In actual terms, export prices for goods fell 2.8%, while volumes fell 16% and the value of exports dropped 18% to $10.3 billion. Import prices fell 1%, volumes rose 14% and the value increased 13% to $13.2 billion.
Statistics NZ said the decline in export prices was led by dairy, down 3.7% , a 3.1% drop for meat and a 4.1% fall for forestry. Meat and dairy led the decline in both values and volumes. Export prices in the third quarter were down 10% from the previous corresponding period.
The decline in import prices was spread over a range of categories, which was offset by gains for petroleum.
Mr Tuffley said key among the import prices was plant and machinery falling 3.7%.
"Despite the negative result, we still estimate the terms of trade have now passed their cyclical low and will lift over the next year as dairy prices recover. We expect low global inflation to continue to underpin the terms of trade."
The release had no implications for ASB’s view of the official cash rate. The bank continued to expect the Reserve Bank to hold the OCR at 1.75% for the foreseeable future, he said.
