Credit, debit card spending falls 0.6% in September
Spending on consumables such as food and liquor also eases 0.6% to $1.5 billion, the largest fall in any industry.
BUSINESSDESK: New Zealanders' credit and debit card spending fell in September, ending August's gains after Kiwis cut down how much they spent on consumable items such as food and liquor.
The seasonally adjusted value of total transactions declined 0.6% to $5.6 billion, Statistics New Zealand says. Spending on consumables also eased 0.6% to $1.5 billion, the largest fall in any industry.
"Card spending fell in all four core retail industries this month, with consumables having the largest fall," acting industry and labour statistics manager Tehseen Islam says. "This is a turnaround from August, when all the core retail industries had rises."
The September figures follow a strong gain in August and come after the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's quarterly survey of business opinion showed retailers were gradually recovering from the slump a few years ago.
The trends for the core retail and the total series remain positive but the rate of growth has weakened in recent months, the government statistician says. The retail trend continues to remain positive but has eased since May 2012.
Spending on fuel rose 0.2% to $692 million. That follows August's 11% jump, the biggest monthly increase since the series began a decade ago.
New Zealand's total core spending on electronic cards, which excludes motor vehicle-related industries, fell 0.9% to $3.4 billion.
Hannah Lynch
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
Wed, 11 Jul 2018
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Credit, debit card spending falls 0.6% in September
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