Thursday's figures were somewhat weaker than what was expected.

A booming services sector helped the New Zealand economy grow by almost 3 per cent in 2017.

Statistics New Zealand figures show the economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the final three months of 2017, a period which covered election uncertainty, falling business confidence and dry weather.

The economy grew by 2.9 per cent for 2017 as a whole, up from 2.7 per cent in the year to September 30, 2017.

Thursday's figures were somewhat weaker than what was expected, with most economists predicting the economy was going to grow by 0.8 per cent in the quarter.

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Growth was driven mainly by the services category of the economy, which makes up around two thirds of gross domestic product (GDP).

Statistics NZ said business services grew by 2.3 per cent in three months, led by computer system design and advertising and marketing.

Statistics NZ said wholesale, retail, rental and real estate services also grew strongly during the period.

"Household spending was up 1.2 per cent in the December 2017 quarter, as households ate out more and spent more on groceries and alcohol," Statistics NZ said in a statement.

Meanwhile the primary sector contracted at the end of 2017, potentially hit by New Zealand's hottest summer on record.

Overall agricultural production fell by 2.7 per cent, with lower milk production hitting dairy manufacturing and dairy exports, which fell 4.4 per cent.

Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said New Zealand's growth at the end of 2017 was hit by dry weather, which was likely to continue into early 2018 "as milk collections so far this year have remained well down on last season".

The growth is more modest in comparison to the growth in the New Zealand population, which has been propelled by strong gains from migration.

Statistics NZ said GDP per person increased by 0.1 per cent in the final three months of 2017 and 0.7 per cent for the full year.

"This is the lowest rate of GDP per capita growth since 2011," Stats NZ said.

Westpac's Gordon said that after hitting 4 per cent growth in 2016, New Zealand's economy had lost some momentum.

"We expect growth to remain at a more subdued pace this year, as the new Government's policies – particularly around cooling the housing market – are expected to be a drag on activity on balance, at least initially," Gordon said.

"The effects of higher fiscal spending are more likely to be felt in 2019 and beyond."

ASB senior economist Jane Turner said outside of the weather-related hit to agricultural production, the picture was "relatively robust with many sectors growing stronger than we expected".

ASB is forecasting a slowdown in growth in early 2018, before a recovery.

"We expect a temporary slowdown in growth over the first half of 2018 due to initial uncertainty following the recent change in government," Turner said.

"But the details in Q4 GDP are encouraging and lift our confidence that economic growth will recover over the second half of this year."