New Zealand posted a merchandise trade deficit of NZ$2.203 billion in August, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.
That missed forecasts for a shortfall of NZ$155 million following the downwardly revised NZ$1.016 billion deficit in July (originally a deficit of NZ$963 million).
Exports were down 0.1 percent on year to NZ$4.97 billion, easing from the downwardly revised NZ$6.09 billion in the previous month (originally NZ$6.15 billion).
Imports fell an annual 1.0 percent to NZ$7.17 billion after showing a downwardly revised NZ$7.10 billion a month earlier (originally NZ$7.11 billion).