Fast Growing Industries in New Zealand

In a previous article, we talked about the highest paying jobs in New Zealand, so you can decide if you want to choose a profession based on the current salaries. This article follows this pattern, but instead, it will focus on the upcoming industries of New Zealand, allowing you to be ahead of the curve.

Economists predict that the industries we will talk about today will experience significant economic growth in the coming years, so you might want to take a look at them and see if anything strikes your fancy.

Education

New Zealand’s education is among the top ones in the world already, but it seems like this industry is experiencing an even higher interest, as well as economic growth. The global corporate training market, for example, is expected to grow by 40.21 billion USD in the period between 2021 and 2025; New Zealand has a prominent role in this type of education.

The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated the creation of reliable online teaching services and New Zealand is yet another outlier in that category. It has significant gains in the Asian market in countries such as Thailand and Malaysia. The teaching profession is also in high demand at the moment, especially in some regions, so you can expect higher salary.

Information and Communication Technology

The information and communication technology industry is among the most profitable industries in the world right now, with a value of 3.8 trillion dollars. Yes, you read that right, trillion! Again, New Zealand is a trailblazer in that sphere, and it looks like it’d only achieve new heights in the coming years.

For instance, the New Zealand company Rakon supplies 50% of the frequency control devices (used in the GPS industry) in the world. Indeed, some of New Zealand’s most profitable exports are in the sphere of information and communication technology, with over 8 billion NZD a year contributing to the economy and employing around 40,000 New Zealanders.

Food and Beverage

Perhaps one, if not the most, important industry for New Zealand is that of the food and beverages.

New Zealand, as you might know, is famous for its wine, as well as its dairy products and seafood. It’s also one of the top exporters of fresh produce such as food and vegetables, so we understand why this industry is considered to be one of the backbones of New Zealand’s economy.

If you don’t believe us, you can check the numbers for yourself – the industry is valued at over 12 billion NZD, which is four times more than the profit it made 25 years ago. If that’s not rapid economic development, we don’t know what is.

Biotechnology

The field of biotechnology is extremely important for the world, and it brings a good deal of notoriety to New Zealand due to the countless breakthroughs in the country. Most of the applications in this sphere are medical, but New Zealand is actually more famous, and rightly so, for its advancement of agriculture applications.

This is neatly tied with the prominence of New Zealand on the food and beverage market. New Zealand is also often asked for its expertise in agriculture to help countries in Asia and Oceania achieve better results in their own agricultural industries.

The patents in biotechnology have exponentially increased as well over the past two decades and it’s been reported that one job in the industry creates about three additional jobs, thus it’s safe to say that biotechnology would soon be among the top industries in New Zealand.

Specialised Manufacturing

We already mentioned the success of the New Zealand company Rakon and its creation of a niche product, and it seems like this company isn’t an outlier; New Zealand is very prominent in the specialised manufacturing industry.

New Zealand companies tend to find a niche in various markets and manufacture these products, which makes them instrumental for the industries they are providing their services to.

Some of the success stories in the industry include the idea to use fiberglass in marine construction and the creation of a jet-propelled boat. As technology is advancing every day, so would the industry of specialised manufacturing.

Creative Industries

This is perhaps the biggest “umbrella” industry on the list, and it includes things such as entertainment (film, television, music, theatre, etc.), design, publishing and such. It is, however, neatly tied with education and manufacturing as well, so it’s indeed a very broad term that comprises of various subfields.

In terms of filmmaking, New Zealand experienced a boom in interest from local, as well as international film studios with the success of Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings trilogy and the subsequent The Hobbit, which were filmed in New Zealand, Jackson’s homeland. New Zealand then replicated the UK model of financing the arts, which only furthered their success.

The film industry in New Zealand is fast growing and it offers many opportunities to aspiring creators, being one of the most equal in terms of employment in the world (the ratio men to women is almost identical).

The other creative industries shouldn’t be overlooked either as they create jobs just as efficiently and they also contribute to New Zealand’s cultural prominence at home and abroad.