Australia and New Zealand are independent economies with different strengths, but more than four decades of closer economic integration have created one of the world’s most open bilateral trading relationships.

Australia and New Zealand compete in sport, compare political decisions and occasionally argue over which country can claim a successful actor, musician or food.

In commerce, however, the two countries are deeply interconnected.

The Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, commonly known as CER, came into force in 1983. It covers substantially all trans-Tasman trade in goods, including agricultural products, and was the first free trade agreement to incorporate free trade in services.

For New Zealand, Australia is its most important trading partner. New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade valued two-way trade at NZ$32.76 billion in 2024 and described Australia as the first export market many New Zealand companies use when seeking growth overseas.

What New Zealand contributes

New Zealand brings a strong primary-production economy to the relationship.

Its exports are closely associated with:

• Dairy products
• Meat
• Fruit and vegetables
• Wine
• Forestry products
• Seafood
• Specialised food manufacturing

New Zealand also contributes tourism, digital services, engineering, creative industries and specialised technology.

Its relatively small domestic population encourages successful businesses to look offshore early. Australia offers a large nearby market with a similar legal system, familiar consumer expectations and relatively easy movement of people.

For many New Zealand companies, Australia is therefore not merely another export destination. It is the first stage of international expansion.

What Australia contributes

Australia offers New Zealand businesses access to a much larger consumer market, deeper capital pools and extensive corporate and professional-service networks.

Australian exports and services contribute through:

• Manufactured and processed goods
• Machinery and transport equipment
• Financial and professional services
• Mining expertise
• Energy
• Construction
• Retail and logistics
• Technology
• Education and tourism

Australian businesses also invest heavily across the Tasman, while New Zealand companies operate throughout Australia in sectors ranging from banking and aviation to building products, food and software.

More than goods crossing a border

The trans-Tasman economy is not limited to shipping containers.

People move between the two countries to work, study, establish businesses and provide specialised services. Qualifications and regulatory systems have gradually become more compatible, although practical differences remain.

The broader Single Economic Market agenda aims to make it easier for companies to operate in both jurisdictions without unnecessarily duplicating compliance.

Ministers from both countries reaffirmed the importance of CER and the Single Economic Market in October 2025 as global economic uncertainty increased.

The opportunity for smaller businesses

Large corporations dominate trade statistics, but smaller businesses can also benefit from the relationship.

An Australian manufacturer may find its first international distributor in New Zealand. A New Zealand software company may acquire its first substantial overseas client in Australia.

The reduced cultural and regulatory distance makes the trans-Tasman market an accessible testing ground.

That does not mean expansion is automatic. Businesses must still understand taxation, employment law, biosecurity rules, consumer regulation, freight costs and local competition.

Two economies with shared interests

Australia has scale, minerals, capital and a larger domestic market.

New Zealand has globally recognised food production, specialised exporters and a business culture shaped by the need to operate internationally.

Each sells products and expertise to the other. Each provides investment, employment and customers.

The strength of trans-Tasman trade is not that the two economies are identical. It is that their differences are complementary enough to create continuing opportunities on both sides of the Tasman.