Matamata-Piako is one of eight full and four part districts that comprise the Waikato Region. Depending on the measure used, (either employment or the value of Gross Regional Product), the district makes up approximately 8% to 12% of the region’s economy.

• Matamata-Piako in a Regional context

* In previous years, the employment data was converted to “full-time” equivalent persons as this provided for more accurate comparisons. However, this conversion is now impossible and we use the raw employment count data, which does not account for hours worked per week.

Economic Significance of Matamata-Piako for the region

Over the last three years the Gross Regional Product has increased, however Matamata-Piako’s share of the region as a whole has been reduced slightly from 9% to 8.5%, which is attributed to the overall growth of the region.

The number of jobs is hard to compare as in previous years a different calculation was used. Full time equivalents were defined as a person working 30 or more hours per week, but this calculation is no longer possible. The new employment count is a head count of employees and does not account for hours worked per week. Approximately 24% of the New Zealand workforce works part-time.

The five most valuable sectors for the district

* In previous years, the employment data was converted to “full-time” equivalent persons as this provided for more accurate comparisons. However, this conversion is now impossible and we use the raw employment count data, which does not account for hours worked per week.

** In 1998 the poultry processing sector also included ham and bacon processing.