Otago beat 15 other regions around New Zealand to place at the top of ASB’s latest regional economic scoreboard for the final quarter of 2024 — repeating its top placing in the organisation’s previous ranking, for the third quarter of last year.
The quarterly scoreboard ranks the economic performance of the country’s 16 regions on employment, construction, retail trade and house prices.
Coming in second — also for the second time in a row — was Canterbury, followed by fellow South Island regions Tasman and Southland.
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said Otago had performed very well amid some challenging times around the country.
The region had topped the scoreboard consecutively before, in the middle of 2023, and had either been number one or two since the end of 2022.
“So, pretty consistent run, and that is a very sustained run.”
Across most of the indicators ASB followed, Otago was in the top half, if not a clear number one or two — which had held the region in top place.
“There’s a degree of consistency for the region that we’re not seeing in others.
“Even Canterbury in second place, it’s much more of a mixed bag and less consistent in the performance that we’ve seen in the indicators for Otago.”
It was “entirely conceivable” for Otago to remain firm in the top spot, and the length of time it had already remained at or near the top was also impressive, Mr Tuffley said.
The report said the recent uptick in tourism had significantly bolstered the Central Lakes region, contributing to Otago leading the country in retail trade and ranking second place in employment growth with a 2.3% increase.
Retail spending also increased by 9.1% annually, compared with the national average increase of 1.4%.
Meanwhile, house prices in Otago had had the strongest annual growth in the country at 2.4%, but house sales growth was lagging behind the national average.
Otago could maintain its top position “for some time” and the gradual recovery of tourist arrivals would be a key factor for the region’s growth, the report said.
“The Fast-track Approvals Bill has facilitated several projects in Otago, and increasing investment in wind farm projects will also shape the development of the region.”
