New Zealand’s business confidence jumped sharply in the third quarter of 2026, with a net 43% of surveyed firms expecting general business conditions to improve, up from 8% in the previous quarter. According to the latest Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER), this improvement occurred despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. It was the strongest reading in more than a year, with a net 40% of firms anticipating an improvement in overall economic conditions in the coming months, compared with 14% in Q2.