Retail card spending down in January

Retail card spending down in January – Media release

12 February 2014

Retail spending using debit and credit cards in New Zealand decreased during January 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. This followed three months of increases.

When adjusted for seasonal effects, the value of electronic card spending in the retail industries decreased 0.5 percent in January.

"Spending was down in most retail industries this month, especially durables, which includes furniture, hardware, and appliances," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

Of the six retail industries, durables had the largest decrease in card spending in January 2014, down 1.3 percent ($14 million). Hospitality was the only retail industry where card spending increased, up 0.7 percent ($5 million).

Core retail (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) spending decreased 0.8 percent in January 2014.

The total value of electronic card spending decreased 0.1 percent in January 2014.

The trends for all three total series have generally been increasing since the series began in October 2002.

In unadjusted terms, 114 million transactions were made across all industries in January, with an average value of $53. The total amount spent across all transactions was $6.0 billion.

ENDS

ElectronicCardTransactionsJan14.pdf
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