Kāpiti economy in good health

The Kāpiti Coast economy is going from strength to strength with GDP growth up 3.8 per cent during the year to March 2016, 1.3 per cent higher than the national average for New Zealand over the same period.

Details on the Annual Economic Profile for Kāpiti for the year to 31 March 2016, provided to Kāpiti Coast District Councillors at their meeting this week, reveal the district is in good economic health outperforming the national averages for New Zealand in several key areas.

Mayor Gurunathan says the key areas where Kāpiti is “significantly stronger” than national average are in terms of GDP growth and employment growth in a number of key industries.

“Employment growth in Kāpiti was up 3.9 per cent compared to 2.7 percent across New Zealand with the building and construction, education and health, agrifoods and tourism and visitor services industries outperforming the national average,” said the Mayor.

Self-employment in Kapiti remains buoyant with 31.5 per cent of the district’s workforce choosing self-employment compared to the 18 per cent national average.

Mayor Gurunathan says the numbers of self-employed in Kāpiti are increasing year on year, which is great for the Kāpiti Coast economy.

“Our diverse communities and relaxed coastal lifestyle coupled with easy access to multiple transport links makes Kāpiti an attractive proposition for those wanting to set up a business in our district.”

Since 2013, Council has commissioned consultancy Infometrics to provide an annual economic profile of Kāpiti. The first profile for the year to March 2012 established the baseline to monitor trends, with official data coming from Statistics New Zealand.

Strategy and Planning Group Manager Sarah Stevenson says the Infometrics data is a key input to our Economic Development Strategy.

“The data will help inform discussion about how we can leverage our district’s strengths and what we need to do to help ensure the growth we are seeing is sustainable,” Ms Stevenson says.