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Story: Manufacturing – an overview

Manufacturing output by sector, 1885–86, 1925–26, 1965–66

  • 1885–86

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  • 1925–26

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  • 1965–66

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These charts show manufacturing output by sector over time, and give a total gross value for each 12-month period. Underlying the shifts in sectoral size are major industrial developments. Wood products and processing, for example, provided a great deal of New Zealand's building materials in 1885–86. In 1965–66 pulp and paper manufacture had become a significant industry. A similar development explains the considerable growth in the chemical, petroleum and rubber processing sector between 1925–26 and 1965–66. With the opening of the Marsden Point oil refinery in 1964, manufacture of refined petroleum products began in New Zealand.

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How to cite this page

Ian Hunter, Manufacturing – an overview – Manufacturing boom, 1880s and 1890s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/25111/manufacturing-output-by-sector-1885-86-1925-26-1965-66 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian Hunter, published 14 April 2010.