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New production was estimated for the equatorial Pacific by quantifying the supply of nitrate into the euphotic zone. The turbulent flux of nitrate, estimated by assuming gradient transport and by direct measurements of dissipation and nitrate concentration along a cross‐equatorial transect, was maximum (1–3 mmol m⁻³ d⁻¹) at 0° and 1°S. Poleward of the equatorial region, there was little vertical diffusion of nitrate (< 10⁻³ mmol m⁻² d⁻¹). An estimate was made of the two‐dimensional advective balance of nitrate between upwelling and the meridional divergence in the equatorial region. The net supply of nitrate into the euphotic zone (vertical supply minus meridional loss) was 4.3 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ between 1°N and 1°S; between 5°N and 5°S, it was 1.9 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹. The total supply of nitrate was larger than the concurrently measured incorporation of nitrate into particles but was comparable to the integrated local …