Strong growth highlighted in Kāpiti Coast’s Economic quarterly update

Kāpiti Coast District Council has released its third Kāpiti Coast economic update, featuring Infometrics data about the region for the December 2017 quarter.

The results cover regional GDP, number of guest nights, house prices, traffic and consents as well as employment and job-seeker statistics.

“There’s good news for the Kāpiti Coast economy which continues to grow, outperforming the Wellington region average in 2017,” Districtwide Councillor Angela Buswell said.

GDP shows our economy has grown 2.7% compared to 2.2% for the region.

Cr Buswell also said job creation is on the up, population is growing, and more tourists are visiting Kāpiti.

“While the numbers look good, there is still so much opportunity and potential for growth,” she said.

Council is due to launch a new destination Kāpiti website www.kapiticoastnz.com this month.

“This is a great opportunity to profile our wonderful district and really amplify our message through digital channels to target regional, national and international visitors,” Cr Buswell said.

“We will also be engaging directly with tourism operators, to help drive business growth.”

In the report:

• Kāpiti’s GDP was $1,658m for the year to December 2017.
• The number of visitors staying in Kāpiti increased 2.2.% in 2017, and retail trade increased 5.6%.
• Expanding business activity is shown in a sharp lift in commercial vehicle sales, and household spending is also up.
• A total of 51 new residential building consents were issued in Kāpiti Coast in the December 2017 quarter, with the number of consents increasing 13% last year, compared with the previous year.  The number of consents in New Zealand increased by 3.4% over the same period.  Non-residential consents to the value of $32m were issued in Kāpiti Coast in the year to December 2017.
• 301 additional jobs were created, primarily in healthcare and social assistance and construction.
• Traffic flows in Kāpiti rose 4.4% in 2017.

More information about Kāpiti’s economic performance can be found in the Kāpiti Coast Economic Update https://www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/Our-District/Economic-Profile/