Understanding our economy
The COVID-19 pandemic presents an unprecedented challenge to both the New Zealand and global economies. This page provides regularly updated insights and information on the effects on the Kāpiti district.
On Tuesday April 7 at 1.30pm Brad Olsen, Senior Economist at Infometrics presented a webinar focused on the economic effects of COVID-19 for the Kāpiti District. Topics covered were:
- Global overview
- NZ situation
- Local Dynamics
Brad is responsible for interacting with clients and providing key regional economic insights. Brad often writes industry- and region-specific economic analysis articles, focusing on current and emerging trends as well as key topics of interest to clients.
A regular in the media, Brad is often found discussing current events and how these could affect the economy. He also has a hand in guiding and leading economic consulting projects, particularly in the areas of regional economic impact assessments and policy costings.
Latest Kāpiti Economic Insights
Updated for the week ending 29 November 2020, the latest spend figures buck the usual trend and show the weekly value in spending to be down slightly on the same week last year -3.2%. The Kāpiti Coast District is now tracking only 0.9% down for the year since 3 February compared to the same period last year. This continues a slow and steady claw back of spend towards parity with last year.
*Data source - Marketview

Spending change by category
Updated for the week ending 29 November 2020, the latest figures show a slight change in existing trends in spending. Food, liquor & pharmacy, and hospitality &accommodation continue to be up compared to the same week last year. Consistently clothing, footwear and department store and fuel and automotive remain the most affected categories week on week with spending well down on the same week last year. Home and recreational retailing is down this week for the first time in months.
Download Marketview reports:
Data to week ending 29 November 2020