WELLINGTON, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's health-tech export sector is shown to have more than doubled in the past decade, becoming the country's second-largest tech vertical behind fintech, according to a health-tech report published on Thursday.

The country's health-tech export sector has grown from 1.27 billion NZ dollars (760 million U.S. dollars) to 2.62 billion NZ dollars (1.57 billion U.S. dollars), said the report published by New Zealand's Technology Investment Network (TIN), which quantifies the sector and its key markets, investment, and business spending.

"The pandemic created a high tide of health-tech enthusiasm, fueling investment, development, and uptake. That tide has now subsided, leaving a tougher landscape of catch-up regulation, integration challenges, and scarcer investment capital," said report author TIN Head of Research Alex Dickson.

The country's health-tech sector saw research and development spending steady at 12 percent of total revenue, the report said.

"Whether founders start in academia or not, they will find that the New Zealand health-tech ecosystem is really collaborative and connected," said Diana Siew, strategic partnership lead of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute.

Between 2021 and 2023, total investment was 220 million NZ dollars (132.18 million U.S. dollars) from a reported 82 deals. By vertical, biotech therapeutic companies were in the lead, followed by digital health companies and medical device companies, the report said. ■