21 June 2016

Christchurch city's total retail and hospitality spending has dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2016, Statistics New Zealand said today. This fall follows a period of steady growth over the latter half of 2015.

After seasonal fluctuations are removed, Christchurch's combined retail and hospitality sales decreased 0.7 percent in the March 2016 quarter. This follows rises of 1.1 percent in December and 2.3 percent in the September 2015 quarters.

In contrast to the fall in Christchurch city this quarter, spending at the national level rose 0.6 percent (see Retail Trade Survey: March 2016 quarter).

"While retail spending alone was down in the quarter, we continue to see increases in the hospitality spending, particularly over recent quarters" business indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

Hospitality spending was up 2.2 percent, while retail spending fell 1.1 percent in the quarter.

Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for combined retail and hospitality sales in Christchurch has risen 32 percent since the June 2010 quarter (before the earthquakes began). This compares with a 25 percent rise at the national level over the same period.

In actual terms, Christchurch's total sales for the March 2016 quarter was $1.9 billion, up 3.8 percent compared with the same quarter in 2015. This follows a 5.1 percent increase in the December 2015 quarter.

The Christchurch retail trade indicator series measures activity in the retail and hospitality industries. It provides information on the state of these industries after the Canterbury earthquakes that began in September 2010.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1606/ChristchurchRetailTradeIndicatorMar16qtr.pdf

http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1606/crtimar16qtrtables.xlsx

ENDS

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