Distillers New Zealand
A one-page guide to New Zealand for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Wellington
- Official languages
- English, Maori, New Zealand Sign Language
- Currency
- New Zealand dollar (NZD)
- Time zone
- UTC+12 (UTC+13 summer)
- Area
- 267,710 km²
People
- Population
- 5.3 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.7% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 84.0%
- Aged under 15
- 17.9%
- Aged 65 and over
- 17.6%
- Life expectancy
- 82.0 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$264.1 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$49,591 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 0.5% (2025)
- Inflation
- 2.8% (2025)
Climate
Temperate maritime. Mean annual temperature about 10 C in the south to 16 C in the north. Rainfall varies widely: Christchurch about 618 mm a year, Wellington nearly double, Hokitika about 2,901 mm. Auckland January high/low 23/15 C, July 15/8 C.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18 to purchase (no minimum drinking age); minors may drink outside a private home only with a parent or guardian
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 8.85 litres of pure alcohol (2022-2024 average (WHO estimate for 2024))
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank indicators (population, area, GDP, GDP per capita, growth, inflation); WHO Global Health Observatory, indicator SA_0000001688; UN Comtrade public API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Wikipedia: New Zealand; NZ Customs excise and excise-equivalent duties table (July 2026); NZ Customs duty-free shopping; ProWine Singapore. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.