Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said on Thursday that the gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent in the last quarter of 2010. The rise in the latest period followed a decline of 0.2 percent in the third quarter of last year.

A contraction in the fourth quarter of 2010 would have met the official definition of two consecutive quarters of contraction required for a recession.

The biggest contributor to economic growth in the last quarter of 2010 was an increase in manufacturing output of 2.5 percent.