WELLINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - New Zealand's terms of trade fell 2.0 percent in the fourth quarter, official data showed on Tuesday.
Terms of trade is a measure of the purchasing power of New Zealand’s exports abroad. A decrease means New Zealand can buy fewer imports for the same amount of exports.
Export prices were down 5.7 percent, led by dairy, down 13 percent, and meat, down 5.1 percent. Import prices were down 3.7 percent, led by petroleum products down 25 percent for the quarter.
Economists were expecting the index to be flat with export prices down 3.9 percent and import prices down 3.5 percent, according to a Reuters poll.
Export volumes fell 2.4 percent while import volumes rose 0.7 percent.
