New Zealand reports fresh wave of shop closures in the first days of 2026
A series of recent shop closures is adding to an already high level of liquidations, and an economist warns more businesses are likely to shut before conditions improve.
In the past 10 days, 61 stores have said they are closing or going into liquidation, Radio New Zealand reported. This includes EB Games, which will close its shops at the end of the month, as well as Miniso and Yoyoso, which are in liquidation.
These latest shutdowns come after 2025, in which liquidations climbed to their highest level in 15 years, according to New Zealand Herald coverage of data from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
According to MBIE, 2,867 companies went into liquidation in the year to December 31, 2025. This is the largest number since 2010 and ranks as the fourth-biggest annual total over the last 25 years, following 2008, 2009, and 2010.
Company removals rose as well, with 50,485 firms taken off the Companies Office register in 2025 – the largest number since 2013 and the second-largest in the last 25 years.
At the same time, new company formations continued. There were 60,897 new company incorporations in 2025. By the end of the year, New Zealand had 744,378 registered companies, a net increase of 10,412.
Will business closures continue?
Economist Shamubeel Eaqub said the recent closures fit a pattern in which business failures can increase just as the economy begins to recover.
"Particularly for some sectors, because the early part of a recovery is slow. There is a disappointment gap," Eaqub said as quoted by Radio New Zealand.
He said that was seen in the Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO), where businesses expected things to get better by the next quarter.
"Things were better but not as much better as they had expected. So the disappointment gap is the most persistent it has ever been in the history of the QSBO," Eaqub said as quoted by RNZ.
"A lot of businesses would have gone out and hired people or they might have made investments or they might have brought in stock so they'll be at the edge. There is still a bunch of businesses that will struggle through this early part of the recovery."
Eaqub said quite often, it was because the business had been bleeding cash and that caught up with them.
"I think there's still a spate of business closures to come."
That view is in line with what insolvency practitioners experienced in 2025. Kare Johnstone, McGrathNicol partner and chairwoman of the Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association of New Zealand, said the sector was very busy last year.
"It's quite interesting, though, because we've seen interest rates have come down quite a bit over the last couple of years, but they're still not as low as they were during the pandemic," Johnstone said as quoted by the New Zealand Herald.
"You combine that with the ongoing rising costs for insurance, rates, rent, and food over the last few years, and customers start to reduce spending."
She said the same industries keep showing up in liquidation data: construction, hospitality, retail and transport.
"Construction comprises around 30% of the liquidation appointments. About 95% of businesses in the construction industry are small with five or fewer employees, so they won't have the balance sheet strength behind them in a downturn economy," she said.
Eaqub said that even though some indicators point to improvement, many firms are still under pressure, with some retailers dealing with weaker-than-expected Christmas trading.
"Also some industries like construction, when the early part of the recovery comes quite often businesses will go out and bid for jobs at prices that are unrealistic because they're just grateful to have work and then they overcommit and face financial difficulty because the cost pressure is built really quickly in the construction industry," he pointed out.
But the economist said that business closures should start to ease towards the end of the year.
Government vows economic growth
Meanwhile, the government has linked the high number of liquidations to a slower-than-expected recovery. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said the aim is to improve the environment for businesses.
"This government is committed to doing what we can to grow the economy and improving the conditions for doing business," Simpson said as quoted by the NZ Herald.
"We are doing this by ensuring that the rules and regulations that are in place are about making it easier, not harder, to do business and getting rid of regulations that are holding back innovation.
"Fortunately, things are looking good for 2026, and growth is expected. Business confidence is at the highest levels since 2014, and the economy is on the rise."
