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A new report has found the future of the New Zealand economy is a Māori economy.
Te Ohanga Māori 2018 was written by Business and Economic Research or BERL for the Reserve Bank.
It estimated the size of the Māori economy was $68 billion, including $39 billion in the assets of almost 10,000 Māori businesses, $21 billion held by trusts, incorporations, and other Māori entities, and $8.6 billion of assets in the businesses of 18,600 self-employed Māori.
Bank assistant governor Christian Hawkesby says while farming, forestry and fishing still dominate, Māori are also active in real estate, manufacturing, construction, and every other sector of the economy.
The younger age of the Māori population means in the five years since the previous report the Māori labour force has grown 40 per cent, compared with less than 10 per cent in the non-Māori growth rate.
"Māori are making up a much bigger part of our economy and given the demographics and the young nature of the Māori population we are really looking at a picture that tells us the future of the New Zealand economy is Māori," he says.
Mr Hawkesby says while Māori are increasingly entrepreneurial, factors such as a low homeownership rate means they struggle to get the capital needed to grow their businesses.
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