Rise in retail spending
Rise in retail spending
14 May 2014
Retail spending has continued to rise in the first quarter of 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the volume of total retail trade sales rose 0.7 percent in the March 2014 quarter. This follows a 1.4 percent rise in the previous quarter.
“Ten of the 15 retail industries had higher sales volumes in this latest quarter,” business indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.
The industries with the
largest increases in March were:
• electrical and
electronic goods retailing, up 5.5
percent
• hardware, building, and garden supplies
retailing, up 2.0 percent
• food and
beverage services, up 1.5 percent.
"There has been sustained growth in the sales volumes for the electrical and electronic goods industry, with the trend rising for the past six years," Mr Islam said.
The volume of sales in the core retailing industries (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) rose 0.8 percent.
When the effect of price changes is included, the total value of retail sales rose 0.7 percent ($131 million), with sales also rising in 10 of the 15 retail industries. For the core retail industries, sales rose 0.7 percent ($102 million).
Looking at the longer-term picture, the trends for both total retail sales volumes and values have generally been rising since mid-2009.
In actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $18.3 billion in the March 2014 quarter, up 3.4 percent compared with the March 2013 quarter.
For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Retail Trade Survey: March 2014
quarter
Ends