Consumer confidence is looking stronger outside New Zealand's main centres with Gisborne showing the biggest retail spending growth last month.The latest retail figures from Eftpos company Paymark show that total spending increased by 2.3% over last Febru
Consumer confidence is looking stronger outside New Zealand’s main centres with Gisborne showing the biggest retail spending growth last month.
The latest retail figures from Eftpos company Paymark show that total spending increased by 2.3% over last February, when a 2.2% fall was recorded.
Marlborough was the only region to see a drop in spending for February, with a 0.1% fall.
The number of card transactions for the month across the Paymark network was 6.2% higher than a year ago.
Auckland/Northland, Christchurch and Wellington increased in February by a modest 1.8% over the same period last year.
But the rest of the country saw a 3.4% increase, led by Gisborne which was up 8.6%, followed by Otago at 5.6% and Waikato with a 4.6% rise.
Two major non-discretionary categories - petrol and food outlets – were responsible for most of the rise, while the results were also affected by the increased volume of tourists visiting the country over the summer months combined with the decline in Kiwis holidaying abroad.
There were still falls in spending in housing-related sectors like furniture, hardware and appliances, along with clothing stores.
But the restaurant and cafe sector was one discretionary area that did see a rise, with growth of 7% for February.
