In this paper we discuss some of these statistical issues and provide some rough estimates of their possible impact on GDP per capita – which is the most widely quoted, if not always the most useful, indicator of an economy’s performance. Our list is not exhaustive, but surprisingly all of the treatments covered result in an underestimation of New Zealand’s GDP.
Could New Zealand’s GDP be higher relative to other OECD countries? Could it be around 10 percent higher relative to Australia? And what might that mean for thinking about the New Zealand economy and its changing fortunes? As this paper outlines, Statistics New Zealand, like other countries including Australia, regularly changes its measurements.