The figures reflect the ongoing pandemic lockdowns
The air transport industry in New Zealand recorded the biggest decline in employment for any industry over the past year, according to Statistics New Zealand. Data from the government agency revealed that the industry - which includes air and space transport - employed 5,600 fewer workers in February 2021 compared to the same period last year. This is a 35% decrease, Stats NZ said. In addition, only 370 enterprises engaged in air transport in February 2021, a drop of 10 enterprises from the year before, according to the agency. The plunge recorded in the industry was attributed to COVID-19 and the restrictions that came with it, plunging demand for air travel across the world.
"The country’s international borders remained closed for quarantine-free travel for most of this period, while domestic air travel was severely affected by lockdowns, regional travel restrictions, and the lack of international tourists," said Stuart Pitts, statistical business register manager, in a statement.
Other transport, such as scenic and sightseeing transport industries, was also hit hard by the pandemic - tallying 32.4% lesser employees than in February 2020.
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Road passenger transport, on the other hand, recorded a 13.8% decline in employees, while the number of enterprises dropped by 22.1%. The gambling sector also took a turn for the worse after it reported five per cent fewer enterprises and 24.6% lesser employees in February 21 than a year ago. Despite this, however, Stats NZ's report said that the total number of enterprises across New Zealand hiked by 0.5% to 562,520. The number of employees also dropped by 0.4% to 2.31 million.
"Though the overall business counts moved within a narrow range, there was a wide variation in how different industries fared over the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic," Pitts said.
One of the sectors that got out luck this year as the construction industry, which has six per cent more employees and 3.9% more enterprises. The building construction industry, meanwhile, reported a higher 6.5% hike in staff and 6.4% more enterprises.
