(Adds detail from Statistics New Zealand, comment from economist)
New Zealand posted a monthly trade surplus of NZ$127 million ($88.8 million) in June as kiwifruit exports continued to hit record levels, data from Statistics New Zealand showed on Tuesday.
The annual deficit for the year to end-June 2016 was NZ$3.3 billion.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a monthly surplus of NZ$150 million and an annual deficit of NZ$3.3 billion.
Exports totalled NZ$4.26 billion for the month while imports were NZ$4.13 billion.
"Export values of kiwifruit for the months of May and June 2016 are the two highest on record," international statistics senior manager Jason Attewell said.
"Annual kiwifruit exports for the June 2016 year also set a new record – NZ$1.7 billion – up 41 percent from the previous June year."
Nathan Penny, ASB Bank rural economist, said nine of New Zealand's top 10 export products rose in the year to June. The only exception was dairy.
"Overall the picture is good, without being fantastic. Obviously we would need dairy to be rising to be fantastic," he said.
The country's dairy sector, which accounts for around 20 percent of exports, has been hard hit by global oversupply and plunging dairy prices.
Statistics New Zealand said overall, fruit exports rose 30.6 percent on the year and helped to offset the fall in dairy exports, which were down 7.3 percent on the year. ($1 = 1.4296 New Zealand dollars)
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