Cricket World Cup boosted GDP

Indian supporters at the Cricket World Cup match at Seddon Park, Hamilton, between India and Ireland. 10 March 2015 New Zealand Herald Photograph by Christine Cornege.

Co-hosting the Cricket World Cup boosted New Zealand's economy by $110 million, according to a new analysis.

New Zealand hosted 23 matches across seven cities during the tournament and attracted 45,000 international visitors, who spent $80 million.

The report by PwC found co-hosts Australia received a bump of AU$350 million to its GDP and attracted more than twice the number of international visitors at 100,000.

Huge interest in India and Pakistan made the tournament, which ran WHEN and saw the Black Caps make the final, one of the most watched sports events in history.

According to the report, the world cup was broadcast to an estimated television audience of 1.56 billion. The official website hosted about 35.9 million unique visitors.

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce and Sport and Recreation Minister Jonathan Coleman welcomed the report, which came after a Government investment of $10.45 million in the tournament.

Regionally GDP increased by $40 million in Wellington, $35 million in Auckland and $15 million in Christchurch, with a further $25 million spread through Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Dunedin.

"The results of this study reinforce Government decisions to invest in major international events such as Cricket World Cup," Mr Joyce said.

"Kiwis took up the once in a generation opportunity...with over 300,000 people attending matches, and over 2,000 people volunteering their time."

PwC said it estimated economic effects using the Business and Economic Research Limited (BERL) economy-wide computable general equilibrium (CGE) model.

This identifies 53 separate production sectors, and uses the Statistics New Zealand inter-industry transactions table, updated with survey and other data sources.

Cricket World Cup - international visitors to New Zealand
- Australia 16,000
- United Kingdom 10,700
- United States 5100
- India 3700
- Pakistan 2000

Cricket World Cup - international visitors to Australia
- New Zealand 32,600
- United Kingdom 20,000
- India 14,600
- United States 10,400
-Singapore 6700