Taranaki Region

Taranaki is geographically dominated by Mount Taranaki, a 2,158m dormant volcano near the centre of the region, with New Plymouth as the main city and Hāwera, Waitara and Stratford as smaller towns. The regional economy has shifted noticeably over the past two decades: dairy overtook oil and gas as the region's top export earner, with dairy exports worth about $1.8 billion in 2024 -- roughly three times oil and gas's export value, a reversal of the 2008 picture when oil and gas earned about twice as much as dairy. The region still produces around 90% of New Zealand's (mostly offshore) oil and gas, so energy remains a real part of the economy, just no longer the dominant one.

Fonterra's Whareroa plant near Hāwera processes up to 14 million litres of milk a day, one of the largest dairy factories in the world -- a genuine indicator of how significant dairy processing is to the local job market. Taranaki's GDP per capita ($85,362 as of March 2024) is the third-highest of any NZ region, reflecting the combined scale of its energy and dairy sectors. New Plymouth functions as the commercial and service hub for the surrounding industry, with a more developed cafe, retail and cultural scene than the region's smaller towns.