NEW ZEALAND’S WEALTH

Taranaki Daily News, 19 January 1933, Page 11

NEW ZEALAND’S WEALTH

APPROXIMATE ESTIMATE : TOTAL OF £805,000,000 ; FOUND. ; < __.. / CONTRACTION DURING 1931. v • ■ .. : ■■ ■ • ———, • • .- •; '. • . ’ A substantial discounting of result? obtained by the usurl method has Jseenadopted by the Government Statistician ; in compiling his annual estimate of private wealth in New Zealand. According to the conventional < process, private wealth at the end of 1931 amounted, to £720,000,000,- Jhis figure being based- on , • the average over five years of estates of persons dying. An adjustment has beenmade to allow for the fact that values at; the end 0fT931 were much lower 1 than , t the average of the preceding five years. The decline in share values of 22 per cent, from the average of the period is regarded as an" approximation of the 1 fall in real 'estate values. This rate of : de- > predation is not applicable to insurance policies, bank : deposits, Government ’.. bonds, etc. The statistician adopt? the ' ratio of one-sixth as probably a sufli- y cient deduction,' giving £600,000,000 as the estimate of the . aggregate private - , wealth at the end of 1931; to this 'an '• addition of 4 per cent, is ■ made for thfe . ' wealth ■ of Maoris,: raising the • tpL?I £625,000,000;' \ 11 . . Public wealth is assessed .at' £339,000,000, against which is the sym of. public y; and local body debt domiciled in. .the. X: Dominion, £159,000,000, and included iit ; \, private wealth. Hence total . nationals ?-F wealth is estimated at £805,000,000. • ’ Similar estimates have been publish-, ■ ed in previous issues of the Year Bpok?; >?‘ They are summarised in the following table, the-amount of public werith re-. presenting' the balance .after, .deduction of debt domiciled in Neiy Zealafi'd:—...

The estimate for 1930 was the highest since estimates in the present form were . institued. • “It - appears. scarcely : necessary to recapitulate reasons why the estimate given can be- regarded at best ' i as a rough approximation btfly/’ statistician remarks. “No practicable system has 1 yet been devised that will permit of a reliably close 'estimation- bf< ; : national wealth being made, and the • difficulties in this respect- are enormous--. ly increased during a period of changing '. values, such as have been experienced during recent years.” ’ \

Public Private Totals. Dec. Millions of Pounds. 1925 ....... 145.5 } 744.5 . ; . 920 1926 ...... 144.5 762.5 907 _’ 1927 .153.5 752 1928 /.•..J., m.5 748 920.5 1929 163.5 754.5 4 918 ; - ■ . 1930 ...... 180 763 ’ 943... '• 1931 180 ■ 625 ' 805 ‘