WELLINGTON, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's annual current account deficit for the year ending September 2018 reached 10.5 billion NZ dollars (7.2 billion U.S. dollars), the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Wednesday.

Although this is the largest annual current account deficit since 2009, as percentage of GDP it was 3.6 percent, lower than the 7.8-percent peak recorded during the global financial crisis, Stats NZ said.

During the year New Zealand exported 82 billion NZ dollars worth of goods and services, it said.

"Dairy, meat, logs, and spending by overseas visitors in New Zealand drove increases in our exports," international statistics senior manager Peter Dolan said in a statement.

New Zealand imported 81 billion NZ dollars of goods and services during the year, mainly vehicles, machinery, petroleum, and also New Zealanders' spending while travelling overseas, Dolan said.