ANZ report flags region's growth as opportunity for property and business lending
The Bay of Plenty is emerging as one of New Zealand's fastest-growing regional economies, with a new ANZ report pointing to booming exports, rapid population growth and rising business numbers that give advisers a strong case for keeping the region on their radar for property and business lending activity.
Exports and population accelerating
Regional exports rose to $7.56 billion in 2025, up 16.9% year-on-year — roughly double the national growth rate.
The Port of Tauranga has become New Zealand's largest port by volume, now handling 48% of the country's containerised exports, while registered businesses in the region have climbed 62.5% since 2000 to reach 43,146.
Population growth is just as striking: Tauranga has more than doubled in size since 1996, from 80,100 residents to 161,000 in 2025, and is forecast to add another 90,000 people over the next three decades, putting it on track to become New Zealand's fourth-largest city.
ANZ managing director of business and agri Lorraine Mapu (pictured) said the numbers reflect the region's growing national importance.
"The Bay of Plenty is one of New Zealand's great economic success stories,” Mapu said. “Its export industries, population growth and investment in infrastructure are creating opportunities not just for the region, but for the entire country."
Kiwifruit and freight driving growth
Kiwifruit remains central to the region's economy, with 80% of the country's crop grown there and export earnings expected to reach $6.2 billion by 2030.
Mapu described the sector as "a core economic platform that few other industries in New Zealand can match," pointing to innovations like Zespri's RubyRed cultivar and AI-based fruit-sizing technology as evidence the industry keeps evolving.
Freight and logistics investment is compounding the opportunity, with the Bay of Plenty capturing more than a third of all new warehouse consents nationally over the past six years, up from 16% in the 2000s.
For advisers, the scale of growth — backed by the new Western Bay of Plenty Regional Deal — points to sustained pressure on housing, industrial land and commercial lending, with continued opportunity for first-home buyers and property investors as Tauranga's population expansion plays out.
And that opportunity isn't just theoretical — QV's House Price Index found Tauranga values rose 0.9% in the three months to June 2026, the strongest result in the Bay of Plenty, even as national values fell 0.4% and neighbouring markets such as Western Bay of Plenty and Rotorua recorded declines over the same period.
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