Flooding blocked roads around the Pauatahanui inlet north of Wellington the day after the November earthquake.

Business confidence has plummeted in Wellington following back-to-back natural disasters.

Only 34 per cent of businesses expect the capital's economy to improve over the next year, according to the latest Wellington Chamber of Commerce business confidence survey.

That was a drop from 62 per cent when the same survey was conducted in September.

DAVID WHITE/FAIRFAX NZ Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford.

Most respondents believed the November 14 Kaikoura earthquake – which disrupted many Wellington businesses, and continues to do so – was holding back the city's economy. Other obstacles raised in the survey included concerns over infrastructure, leadership and regional transport issues.

READ MORE:

* Wellington businesses lose $3.2 million after 7.8 earthquake

* Quake puts some Wellington property deals on ice

* Kaikoura quake delivers $16 million hit to tourism spending

* Owners of 80 Wellington CBD buildings ordered to do more invasive testing

* Wellington building owners on notice to get earthquake inspections done

* New photos from Statistics New Zealand's quake-hit head office released

Thousands of workers, including large swathes of government employees, were displaced as a result of the magnitude 7.8 quake.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Statistics House on Harbour Quays has been closed since the Kaikoura earthquake.

Among the biggest building casualties were the BNZ building on the Waterfront, and Statistics House at CentrePort which used to house about 500 staff. The failure of the near-new building is now the subject of a ministerial investigation.

Early Statistics House assessments raised concerns about the structural integrity of around 80 similar-sized CBD buildings, prompting Wellington City Council to order owners to do more invasive testing.

Owners have until Friday to inform council engineering assessments were under way, with completed reports due by February 20.

The BNZ building, which was also badly damaged in the 2013 earthquake, remains empty, with the bank's staff now working from several other buildings in the city.

Demolitions have also been ordered at 61 Molesworth St and the Reading Cinema carpark - the latter also impacting on several nearby businesses in the Tory St-Courtenay Place area.

Wellington Chamber of Commerce chief executive John Milford was not surprised confidence had dropped, considering the survey was conducted just four weeks after the "earthquake-flooding double-hit".

"These two events, coming so closely together, hit confidence hard, and though most businesses were back on their feet within days, these things do have an impact," he said.

"Our survey showed that more than 62 per cent of those surveyed across the region – 441 of the 711 businesses that responded – were impacted in some way."

Impacts ranged from property and stock damage, staff and freight disruption, temporary building closures, reduced business activity and sales, and significant loss of income anticipated over coming weeks or months, he said.

"In addition, some 357 respondents said their business was affected by the flood, with damages to premises and stock, workplace closures, and staff disruption."

Despite the drop in optimism, businesses still indicated a secure outlook for their own situations, Milford said.

When asked about their own fortunes, half said they expected to see an improvement over the next year.

Fifty-three per cent of businesses reported they expected a steady increase in earnings.

Hiring intentions remained positive, but while finding skilled staff was slightly easier, it continued to be a challenge, he said.

"Investment intentions, hiring, and profit expectations among Wellington businesses are similar or better than national expectations.

"Once Wellington-region businesses return from the holiday break they will see that all the signs for economy are good.

"Taking all this into account and considering what business has had to endure in the last quarter of 2016, confidence in [Wellington's] and the country's economy has held up very well."

The survey was conducted in the first two weeks in December.