The Covid-19 pandemic continues to push New Zealand's trade balance into positive territory.
In fact, the country recorded its largest trade surplus since 2014 - the height of the last dairy boom.
But today's figures - a $1.3 billion annual goods trade surplus for the August 2020 year - reflected a rise in exports and a fall in imports over the past months, StatsNZ said. Imports were down by almost $1b for the month.
A similar trend was evident for the June quarter current account - which was recorded the largest surplus since 1971. The figures were in line with expectations, said ASB economist Nathaniel Keall.
"Remarkably, annual merchandise export values aren't too far off the high reached in March and are currently sitting at $60.6b," he said.
"That's notable, given predictions the Covid-19 outbreak would lead to a broad slowdown in international trade, and highlights that NZ's key export sectors – like food production – are likely to remain more resilient than other industries."
Kiwifruit in particular had been a strong performer on the export front, with values up $349 million (8.6 per cent) versus August 2019. Dairy products were also up 10 per cent.
But export numbers were inflated a bit by the long-term departure of aircraft being put into storage in the US.