The global financial crisis took a big hunk out of the NZ finance and insurance sectors last year, with total income slumping 7.5% – or more than $NZ6 billion ($4.63 billion).

A new enterprise survey by Statistics New Zealand shows financial and insurance services registered the greatest decrease across a spread of industries, dropping to $NZ74.3 billion ($57.3 billion) from $NZ80.4 billion ($61.6 billion) in 2008.

Industries covered in the survey contributed about 90% of New Zealand’s gross domestic product. Overall, salaries and wages paid to employees across all industries increased by 4%, compared to an increase of 8.4% in 2008.

Total income for all industries came in at $NZ569.2 billion ($439.3 billion), up 0.4% from the year before.