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The economic impact of the Canterbury earthquakes

Miles Parker, Daan Steenkamp

In late 2010 and in 2011, Canterbury endured a series of major earthquakes. Overall, the Canterbury economy has been reasonably resilient to the impact of the earthquakes, and the spillover to other regions in New Zealand has been limited. Goods exports and manufacturing activity appear to have held up well. Conversely, some sectors, notably retail, accommodation and hospitality, have been hard hit. International visitor numbers are sharply down, and there appears to have been some population loss from Christchurch. Repair and rebuild activity is under way and expected to accelerate from here, peaking in the next few years, but will take at least a decade to complete.