This year's drought cost the taxpayer about $1.1 million in rural relief and support payments.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy on Monday ended the official drought declaration covering the North Island and West Coast of the South Island.
He had extended it until the end of September to allow support measures to continue, and he said rural communities had bounced back strongly from the worst drought in 70 years.
The Government approved 146 claims and paid more than $800,000 in rural assistance payments. It distributed a further $320,000 to the Rural Support Trusts, which have helped farmers and their families to cope with the drought.
But Mr Guy said he believed the drought cost the country more than $1 billion in lost primary sector revenue to the end of June.
The true cost would be higher and the drought would affect agricultural production for seasons to come as farmers had been forced to send breeding stock to the works, he said.
