NEW ZEALAND has sunk into its first recession in 10 years following a 0.2 per cent contraction in gross domestic product in the three months that ended in June, the country's leading statistician said yesterday.

It was the second successive quarter of weakness after the 0.3 per cent decline in the first quarter, and makes New Zealand the first Asia-Pacific country and one of the world's first developed economies - along with Ireland - to fall into recession.

"It's very unlikely that New Zealand will be the only economy in the Asia-Pacific that follows that path [recession]," said Glenn Maguire, Asia chief economist at Société Générale. Economists had predicted that New Zealand was in recession as far back as June.

- (Financial Times service)