New Zealand’s technology sector saw rapid growth over the past year, with revenue and exports up 9 percent on the year earlier, a recent report indicates.
The Technology Investment Network’s (TIN) annual report on the top 200 technology companies states that the sector grew nine times faster than the rest of the economy, with a total revenue of $15.11 billion – this represents a gain of $1.25 billion. The top four companies generated more than $1 billion between them.
The strong revenue resulted in an overall profit of nearly $2.5 billion for the sector.
The report also reveals that the tech sector earned more than three-quarters of its revenue in exports, accounting for 14 percent of New Zealand’s total – second only to the dairy sector.
TIN Network managing director Greg Shanahan told RNZ News that Auckland remained the base for the tech sector.
He also said that firms in the financial and health tech areas were the biggest contributors to growth, and that the uncertain global economic outlook was less of a challenge tech companies than for other industries.
“One of the reasons why the tech sector is continuing to grow strongly now is that change, and to some degree chaos, favours the tech sector because it brings through new solutions more rapidly to address some of these changing ecosystems,” he said.
“So as well as the growth in fintech, we’ve seen more recently very strong growth in healthtech for the same kind of reason.”
Spending on research and development in the tech sector grew by nearly 19 percent, with the top 200 companies spending more than $1.8 billion. Start-up tech companies were also able to raise $192 million in venture capital and angel investment, compared with $30.5 million raised last year.
The top 200 companies paid staff an average annual salary of nearly $90,000 – well above the national average of just over $61,000.
“The growth in high-paying tech jobs at home is having a profound effect on the domestic economy with an additional $264 million coming into the country in wages,” Shanahan said.
