Employment in the areas of agriculture and forestry is high, due to high demand for dairy products overseas resulting in high prices. The agriculture, forestry, and fishing industry had 70,570 enterprises and 108,200 employees at February 2012. Immigration New Zealand has identified a list of skills in demand. Science jobs on the lists include;
• Biotechnologist (health-science related field)
• Environmental research scientist
• Food technologist
• Forestry scientist
• Geologist
• Geophysicist
• Life scientist (regulatory toxicologist)
• Microbiologist
• Research chemist
The median weekly income in New Zealand in June 2013 was NZ$575. However, salaries do vary from sector to sector, and in 2013, the highest income earners in New Zealand were in the fields of Medicine and ICT.
The Mercer’s 2014 Cost of Living Survey ranks New Zealand major cities such as Auckland (58) and Wellington (79) in comparison to Hong Kong (3) as one of the most expensive city to live. European cities ranked Zurich (5), Paris (27) and Vienna (32). The Survey released annually, measures the comparative cost of living for expatriates in 211 major cities. Mercer’s compare the cost of over 200 items in each location, including housing, transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment, New York City is the base city and the US dollar as the base currency.