Retail card spending falls slightly in November

Retail card spending falls slightly in November

9 December 2014

Retail spending using electronic cards decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in November 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. This slight fall followed a 1.0 percent increase in October 2014.

"There were mixed results across the retail industries, with three rising and three falling," business indicators manager Neil Kelly said. "A significant decrease in spending on fuel this month coincided with falls in fuel prices in November."

The largest retail industry movements in November 2014 were:
• fuel, down $38 million (4.9 percent), following a $20 million (2.7 percent) increase in October
• hospitality, up $17 million (2.3 percent).

Core retail spending (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) rose 0.3 percent in November 2014.

The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail industries (services and other non-retail), fell 0.3 percent.

Trends for the total, retail, and core retail series have all generally been rising since these series began in October 2002.

In unadjusted terms, card-holders made 125 million transactions across all industries in November, with an average value of $51. The total amount spent across all transactions was $6.4 billion.

This data is not adjusted for price changes.

For more information about these statistics: Visit Electronic Card Transactions: November 2014

ENDS

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