Christchurch city's retail spending continues to rise

Christchurch city's retail spending continues to rise

Christchurch city's retail and hospitality spending continues to outpace that at the national level, Statistics New Zealand said today.

After seasonal fluctuations are removed, Christchurch's retail and hospitality sales increased 1.5 percent in the December 2015 quarter, compared with an increase of 1.2 percent at the national level (see Retail Trade Survey: December 2015 quarter).

"Increased spending in the retail and hospitality businesses, particularly over the last two quarters, has further widened the gap in growth for Christchurch ahead of the rest of the country," business indicators manager Tehseen Islam said. "There was an influx of new businesses in the latter half of 2015."

Looking at the longer-term picture, the trend for retail and hospitality sales in Christchurch has risen 33 percent since the June 2010 quarter (before the earthquakes began). This compares with a 24 percent rise at the national level over the same period.

In actual terms, Christchurch's total sales for the December 2015 quarter was $2.2 billion, up 5.1 percent compared with the same quarter in 2014. This follows a 4.2 percent increase in the September 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.

ENDS

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