The country has posted its biggest monthly trade surplus in a year as exports held up in the face of the spreading Covid-19 pandemic.
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Official numbers show a surplus of $672 million for March, the second month in a row that exports have outstripped imports.
Trade surpluses are common at this time of the year, which is the peak of agricultural production.
Increased exports of kiwifruit, dairy and meat more than offset a drop in forestry product exports, Stats NZ said.
Trade with China, New Zealand's single biggest market and supplier of goods, was marginally down on this time last year.
The annual trade deficit edged up to $3.4 billion.