If you watch Mike Hoskings interview with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, the PM clearly "agrees" with Hoskings that NZ's 2023 Quarter 2 Gross Domestic Product growth figure is bigger "than for every country other than Japan" (between 9 minutes 30 seconds and 10 minutes 30 seconds into the interview below). Stats NZ says our Q2 figure (for April to June 2023) was 0.9% higher when compared to the previous quarter.
To the best of my knowledge there are lots of nations in the world with better comparable numbers. Was the PM only referring to the OECD? But he used the words "every country other than Japan" and even if you look at the OECD data base of Q2 Real Quarterly Growth Figures (below) for 2023 there are plenty of countries with higher rates than NZ. We are listed at 0.9%, but Costa Rica is at 1.9%, Greece at 1.3%, Iceland at 2.2%, Japan at 1.2%, Lithuania at 2.4%, Slovenia at 1.4%, Turkey at 3.5%, Croatia at 1.1% (and India at 1.9%).
The PM arguing our economy is a stand-out success on the basis of GDP is outrageous. We are not best on GDP growth compared to "every country other than Japan". And our GDP per capita is contracting since our population - due to immigration - is rising at a faster rate than our economy, so the living standard of the average Kiwi is falling.
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