Rubén Alejandro Valencia León

Country Business Profile

Introduction:
Official Name of Country: New Zealand
Capital: Wellington
Major Cities: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-
Hastings, Dunedin and Palmerston North (“New Zealand Population 2019”, n.d.)

New Zealand offers you a unique mix between nature, tradition, opportunities and warm
people. With a great location in the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand has one of the most
incredible sceneries to look and explore. The Maori Culture has become a really
important issue in the society, exploiting and preserving customs and traditions along
time and sharing always with visitors and locals (“Why travel to New Zealand”, 2017).

People (over 4.5 million) are known as “Kiwis” and always are friendly and willing to
help. In 2015, 94% of expats said that Kiwi people are ‘friendly’ or ‘very friendly
according to an Expat Insider survey, second of 64 countries for ‘ease of settling in’ (“A
Warm Welcome”, n.d.) this can be expressed in the fact that they are an indulgent
society, moved by desires, optimism and enjoying life.

Apart from this uniqueness, New Zealand is a land of opportunities too. With a score of
86.7 in the Ease of Doing Business Ranking (ranked 1 out of 188 countries) is the best for
business opportunities, open new companies and finding a job (“Ease of Doing business”,
n.d.) Nevertheless, you will have to be aware that as an individualistic society, you will
need to focus on close relations and your own capabilities for success. Even with a low
power distance, where you have a close relation and more horizontal environment, he
main focuses will always be in the individual and taking into account that they seek for
short term results you will need to focus for gaining.

Definitely a country of wonderful contrasts that you need to explore and enjoy.

Haere mai

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Geography

Source: Map of New Zealand https://www.lonelyplanet.com/maps/pacific/new-zealand/

 Location: Oceania, islands in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of Australia.

New Zealand lies along the Ring of Fire with active volcanoes and earthquake
epicenters (“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”, 2019)

 Size of the country :

Two main islands and some smaller islands

o South Island, the main island  12th largest island in the world
o North Island  14th largest island in the world

Take into account that the following data is including all minor Islands:

o Total: 268,838 sq km
o Land: 264,537 sq km
o Water: 4,301 sq km

 The terrain: Mainly mountainous with large coastal sides

 Climate: it is a temperate country with some contrast along different regions
 The environment:
o One of the best water quality and access for 100% of the population
o Fast Urbanization processes
o Deforestation
o Soil erosion and degradation;

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o Native flora and fauna affected by invasive species;

o Due to all the nature it has, is really negatively affected by climate change
(“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”, 2019)

 Country’s most popular exports: Dairy produce; birds' eggs; natural honey;
edible products of animal origin: 10,187,111 (USD thousand in 2018) (“List of
products at 2 digits level exported by New Zealand in 2018 “, n.d.)

Population Data

 Population: 4,882,500 (December 2018 est.), compared to the world, it is in 126

position (“Population”, 2019)
 Race (2013 est.):
o European 71.2%
o Maori 14.1%
o Asian 11.3%
o Pacific peoples 7.6%
o Middle Eastern, Latin American, African 1.1%
o Other 1.6%
o Not stated or unidentified 5.4% (“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”,
2019)

 Gender:
o Male: 2,401,300 (December 2018 est.), 49% of total population
o Female: 2,482,200 (December 2018 est.) 51% of total population
(“Population”, 2019)

 Religion (2013 est.):

o Christian 44.3% (Catholic 11.6%, Anglican 10.8%, Presbyterian and
Congregational 7.8%, Methodist, 2.4%, Pentecostal 1.8%, other 9.9%)

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o Hindu 2.1%
o Buddhist 1.4%
o Maori Christian 1.3%
o Muslim 1.1%
o Other religion 1.4%

 Annual birth rate: 13.1 births/1,000 population (2018 est.)

 Infant mortality rate (2018 est.):
o Total: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births
o Male: 4.9 deaths/1,000 live births
o Female: 3.8 deaths/1,000 live births

 Death rate: 7.6 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.)

 Life expectancy (2018 est.):
o Total population: 81.4 years
o Male: 79.2 years
o Female: 83.6 years

 Urban population: 86.6% of total population (2019)

o Major Urban Areas population (2018): 1.557 million in Auckland,
411,000 in Wellington (“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”, 2019)

 The projected population of the country by 2050: 5,607,793 people (“2019

World Population by Country”, 2019)

Economic Data

 Country’s currency: NZ dollar

 The exchange rate with the US dollar: 1 NZ dollar = 0.63 US dollar

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Key Data

 Per Capita GDP: 41,966 (US dollars in 2018)

 The average annual growth rate of GDP: 2.8% in 2018
 The average annual rate of inflation: 1.6% - 2018 (“World Data Atlas: New
Zealand”, n.d.)
 Total external debt of the country: 186,640.4 - Jun. 2019 (“New Zealand
External Debt”, 2019)
 Public Debt: 86 billion LCU – 29.4% of GDP (2018) (“World Data Atlas: New
Zealand”, n.d.)
 The percentage of the population living in absolute poverty

New Zealand does not have an official poverty measure. Nevertheless, they set
the following:

The fixed-line measure (60 percent of median income) adjusted for

housing costs indicated 15 percent of the total population lived in poverty
in 2010, the same as in 2009. This ended a decline in poverty started in
1994. Child poverty rates were 22 percent from 2007 to 2010, following
major falls from 2001 (“Household Incomes, Inequality and Poverty”,
2011)

 Poverty Rate: 0.109 (2014), the ratio of the number of people (in a given age
group) whose income falls below the poverty line (“Poverty Rate”, 2019)

 GINI Index: 32.5% in 2018, ranked 77 out of 107 countries (“World Data Atlas:
New Zealand”, n.d.)

Central government expenditures:

 Defense: $2.3 billion (2018) 0.7% ( “New Zealand Military Expenditure”, 2019)
 Education: $ 13.9 billion (2018) 4.8% of GDP
 Health: $17.1 billion (2018) 5.9% of GDP
 Social security and welfare: $26.1 billion (2018) 9% of GDP
 Core Government Services: $5.0 billion (2018) 1.7% of GDP
 Other: 14.2% of GDP

 Total Expenditures: 36.3% (2018) (% of GDP)

 Overall surplus: $5.5 billion (2018) 1.9% (% of GDP)
 Gross Domestic Product: $289.3 billion- 2018 (The Treasury, 2018)

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Human Development

 Human Development Index (HDI)

The HDI was created to be aware that economics is not the only measure to take
for establishing development in a country and take personal capabilities too. The
HDI is a measure that summarizes key dimensions of human development
achievements. (United Nations Development Program, n.d.)

Source: Human Development Index, http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi

 HDI value: 0.917 (2017), very high human development category  ranked 16
out of 189 countries. It is above the average for very high human development
OECD countries (United Nations Development Program, 2018)
 Population’s access to drinking water: 100% - 2015 (“World Data Atlas: New
Zealand”, n.d.)
 The median daily energy (calories) intake: from foods and beverages was
10,380 kJ1 for males and 7448 kJ for females (2008/09) (University of Otago and
Ministry of Health, 2011)
 The adult literacy Rate: 99% (2014)
 Gross Primary school enrollment ratio: 99.4% (2015)

1 1 Calorie = 4,2 KJ (kilojoules)

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 Gross Secondary school enrollment ratio: 116.6% - 2015 (“World Data Atlas:
New Zealand”, n.d.)

In addition:

 Real GDP per capita ($US): $38,000 - 2018 (“World Data Atlas: New Zealand”,
n.d.)
 Labor Force % of Population: 54% (2,774,700 people) - jun. 2019
 Women % of Labor Force: 45.9% (1,324,800)- jun. 2019 (“New Zealand
Labour Force Participation Rate”, 2019)
 Distribution of Labor Force
o Agriculture: 6.6%
o Industry: 20.7%
o Services: 72.7% - 2017 est. (“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”,
2019)

 Unemployment Rate: 3.9% - jun. 2019 (“New Zealand Labour Force

Participation Rate”, 2019)
 Earnings per Employee, Average Annual Growth Rate: 2% (“Labor market
statistics: March 2019 quarter”, 2019)
 Physical Quality of Life Index (PQLI): 183.07 Ranks 9 of 77 countries
(“Quality of Life Index for Country 2019 Mid-Year”, 2019)

Urbanization

 Urban Population % of Total Population: 86.6% (2019)

 Urban Population, Average Annual Growth Rate: 1.01% - 2015 to 2020 est.
(“The World Fact Book: New Zealand”, 2019)
 Access to Electricity: 100% of the population – 2017 (The World Bank, n.d.)
 Population in the Largest City: 1.45 million in Auckland (“New Zealand
Population 2019”, n.d.)
 Major City with the Largest Population Density: Hamilton City
o Density: 1436.3 people/km2 - 2013 to 2017 ( Rikihana, 2018)

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Taking this data into account. We can say that there is a big concentration of people in
urban areas so in some cities de population density is really high. Rural areas have really
few people comparing with the big cities and that is why within the country you can have
really noisy and crowded places alongside really peaceful places to relax and be quiet. An
interesting mix for developing different activities.

Current Political and Economic Situation:

 This country ranks 174 of 190 countries on the Political Rights Index, 1 – strong
(“Political Rights-Country Rankings”, 2019)
 This country ranks 175 of 190 countries on the Civil Liberties Index. 1 - strong
(“Civil Liberties-Country Rankings”, 2019)

Description Political and Economic Situation

Regarding the data presented above. We can say that in New Zealand you will find
stability and opportunities.

It is one of the world’s most stable democracies with a diverse and representative
Parliamentary democracy developed from the British model. New Zealand is able to
engage people with the political process, 75-80% of populations vote.

New Zealand Spend a lot in social development, trying to give the best quality of life.
Scoring very high in HDI. Really strong score (1) in Political Rights and Civil liberties.

Government is always supporting its people and it can be seen it all the opportunities for
business and investors. Offering huge infrastructure investment (transportation,
telecommunications, energy, etc.) and few regulations (Ministry of Business, Innovation
& Employment, n.d.)

All these facts, have a positive effect on the economy. Really strong economic position,
high GDP, good proportion of expenditure and investment allows New Zealand even has
a surplus in its economy. Definitely a political stability and economic strong country

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Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Dimension Make connections between that data above to these

Score
Cultural Dimensions
 People look after themselves and their immediate families.
 In the business world, employees are expected to be self-
reliant and display initiative.

It can be explained because of the high access to the

Individualism 79
education they have. A lot of well-educated professionals
make the labor market really competitive and despite they
are really friendly and sociable, they have to give the best
individual in order to succeed.

As an open society and willing to accept new cultures and

visitors. Relation with superiors has become more horizontal
Power trying to match this diversity and modern society. Total
22
Distance communication and seeking for the participation of all can be
a reflection of a long and strong Maori tradition (cooperation
and common wellbeing)
Agriculture, working with the land and a strong Maori
culture has influenced society for being more tempted to
masculinity. Men are like the pillar, have to be stronger than
Masculinity 58 women. The sense of men in charge of money and things.
Although, it is only 58, a tendency that shows a change in the
near future due to an open society recognizing civil liberties
and equality.
This score does not show a preference. A society that tent not
to be influent by the future or what is going to happen.
Uncertainty Reflects a society with no worries about the future but with
49
Avoidance the feet on the ground. Institutions that always supports its
citizens and try to do the best dealing with the present but
looking for the best future possible. Having the right balance.
With a strong political apparatus and a supportive
government. It is quite understandable that society tent lo
Long-term live the present. With a very good quality of life and
33
Orientation organization they can be focus on achieving results and let
the future to happen Maybe, it reflects how secure they feel
about the future.
Indulgence They have a society political secure, with a strong economy,
versus 75 civil liberties, excellent public services, education,
Restraint infrastructure, quality of life, opportunities and governmental

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support. It can be said that “everything” is assured so people

don’t have to worried about anything than living, enjoy life
with a positive attitude, optimism and trying to look for what
makes them feel good and happy.
Source: Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights, https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/new-zealand/

Conclusion
New Zealand is a really interesting country to live in. It has a rich culture and a real
understanding of the importance of it. Despite old traditions and customs from Maori
culture is present daily, modernity and a prosperous society arises. Political stability,
Civil liberties, good access to services, an open market to new ideas, business, and
investors create an ideal environment for settling down.

Getting deeper into the culture. We need to understand that even if it is a really open
society, easy to deal with, we will face a high competitive market. We need to be really
well prepared to fit into a society with contrasts but always willing to welcome the
visitors and make them feel like home.

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Alves, T. (2017, June 19). 14 Reasons Everyone Should Visit New Zealand At Least
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debt#targetText=New%20Zealand%20External%20Debt&targetText=New%20Zeal
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