Total card spending flat

Total card spending flat

9 March 2018

Total card spending across all industries was relatively flat (up 0.1 percent) in February 2018, when adjusted for seasonal effects, Stats NZ said today.

Retail card spending dipped 0.3 percent in February, after five consecutive monthly increases.

“February’s decline was led by a 0.5 percent fall in spending on consumables, which includes grocery and liquor retailing,” retail manager Sue Chapman said.

“This is the first decrease in the consumables group since May 2017 and could be the effect of people hunkering down during the two ex-tropical cyclones that hit this month.”

Spending was subdued across most of the six retail industries. There was little or no change in durables (includes hardware, furniture, and appliances), hospitality (accommodation, bars, cafes, restaurants, and takeaways), apparel (clothing and footwear), and fuel.

Core retail sales (which excludes the fuel and vehicle-related industries) rose 0.3 percent.

Actual retail spending using electronic cards was $4.9 billion in February 2018, up $157 million (3.3 percent) from February 2017.

Values are only available at the national level, and are not adjusted for price changes.

Authorised by Liz MacPherson, Government Statistician, 9 March 2018.

For more information about these statistics:

• Visit Electronic card transactions: February 2018

• See CSV files for download

ends

© Scoop Media