Hawke's Bay had its strongest quarterly rise in almost a decade, according to the ANZ Regional Trends report to December.
The report's measure of composite economic activity recorded growth of 1.9 per cent for the region, above the national rate of 1.8 per cent which was the largest national quarterly increase in 12 years.
Year-on-year regional growth was 3.8 per cent, again above the national growth of 3.3 per cent.
It said business and consumer confidence was greater than nationwide increases but gains in the transport sector and retail sales were milder.
The number of house sales rose in the quarter with rural volumes outpacing the national figure.