Our Key Markets

An overview of business conditions in New Zealand and Australia

Basic Data

【New Zealand】

ニュージーランド基礎情報
New Zealand is located in the southern hemisphere, sovereign island country consisting of two major islands of the British Commonwealth and many small islands. 
The capital city is Wellington on the North Island, the largest city is Auckland also located on the North Island.
  • Area
    275,340km2 (Approx. 3/4 of Japan)
  • Capital
    Wellington (Approx. 542,000 peopple)
  • Largest City
    Auckland (Approx. 1,717million people)
  • Population
    5.127 million peoplle
  • Population density
    18.621 people/km2 (Japan average at 332.111 ppl/km2)
  • Major Industry
    Agriculture and livestock industry, tourism

Source: Statistics New Zealand (Survey in 2021)

【Australia】

Australia
Australia is a democracy, a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the sixth largest continent in the world.
Major cities such as Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne are located on the eastern side of the continent.
  • Area
    7,692,024km2
  • Capital
    Canberra (Approx.450,000 people)
  • Largest City
    Sydney (Approx. 5.26 million people)
  • Population
    25.978 million people
  • Population density
    3 people/km2
  • Major Industry
    livestock industry, mining

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics(Survey in 2021)

Market Conditions

Although the economies of both countries were sluggish in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, they have continued to grow steadily in recent years, showing higher growth rates than Japan.
In 2022/23 the market has cooled due to interest rate hikes, taken as a measure to curb inflation in response to high global prices.

Actual GDP growth ratio (%)

  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
New Zealand
  • 3.42
  • 2.87
  • -2.08
  • 5.56
  • 2.34
Australia
  • 2.78
  • 1.98
  • -2.14
  • 4.91
  • 3.75
Japan(reference)
  • 0.64
  • -0.36
  • -4.62
  • 1.66
  • 1.75

Source: IMF (World Economic Outlook Databases, October 2022)

Automotive Industry

Automobile Industry
Overseas manufacturers, which had been operating in both countries, stopped domestic production in New Zealand in 1998 and in Australia in 2017.
For this reason, both countries rely on imports for almost all new registrations.

Automotive Market

Automobile Market ※Source New Zealand Customs Motor Vehicle Statistics
In both New Zealand and Australia motor vehicles use a left-hand lane/right-side driver configuration. This ensures they are markets with a higher affinity for Japanese cars as compared to those manufactured in Europe and North America.
As a result, the percentage of automobiles imported from Japan (new and used vehicles) is high in both countries, with New Zealand accounting for approximately 60% and Australia approximately 40%. The total volume of imported vehicles in New Zealand is around 250,000 vehicles, or about 40% of used cars. In Australia the total volume of imported automobiles in Australia is about 1.2million vehicles, with used automobiles accounting for less than 2% of the total volume of imported automobiles.
Optimus Quick Guide

Optimus Quick Guide

This section shows basic information for quick insight of our group. Brief introduction of our group business characteristics and strength, global development, and growth strategy.