Key insights from our latest report:

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1. A strong net 45% of business respondents expect their revenues to improve over the coming 12 months. However, there is high disappointment that having “survived to ‘25” the condition of the NZ economy currently is far less strong than hoped for.

This means margins remain under pressure and in some sectors especially such as retailing and hospitality, further business closures are anticipated.

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2: The hopes for a better 2026 are encouraging a high net 12% of businesses to plan higher spending on capital equipment. This may include digitisation associated with strong experimentation with use of AI across many sectors.

The willingness of businesses to back their positive 2026 view on the economy with extra investment bodes well for the recovery even though deep concerns exist surrounding the global tariff war.

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3: There is a slow downward trend underway in the net proportion of businesses who feel that lack of bank finance is a source of concern.

But the biggest decline in any one area of concern over the past year has been around borrowing costs. Whereas this time last year a net 44% of businesses said that interest rates were a concern, that proportion now stands at a low for the over two year duration of our survey at just 10%.