Shoppers keep credit and debit cards in their pockets

The country's retail spending on electronic cards fell in December, led by a decline in purchases of durable goods.

Consumer confidence also dipped in December.

Spending on core retail fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4% to $4.02 billion, Statistics New Zealand says. When fuel and auto-related items are added, retail spending fell 0.2 %.

"Retail spending trucked along at a pretty solid pace over the course of the last year, supported by strong growth in house prices, a large net inflow of migrants, and solid tourist spending," Westpac Banking Corp senior economist Anne Boniface says.

"As we head into 2016 we expect the pace of retail spending will gradually start to slow. Regional centres may feel the impact of ongoing belt tightening by farmers, while in Auckland the slowing housing market may prove a headwind for retail spending."

Card spending on durables – furniture, hardware and appliance retailing – fell 1.8% to $1.1 billion.

"There could be a number of reasons for this," Ms Boniface says. "It may imply weaker prices in this sector. Alternatively, it could signal that slower turnover in the housing market in recent months, particularly in Auckland, has weighed on spending on durables - or some combination of the two."

Consumer confidence slipped in December according to an ANZ-Roy Morgan survey, which cited an uncertain economic outlook tempering optimism.

Earlier this month, payments firm Paymark said December activity showed strong growth, with the number of transactions up 8.2% from a year earlier.

Today's data show the number of transactions rose 6.2% in December to 143 million from the same month a year earlier, while the value of total spending, which includes services and non-retail industries, gained 5.6% to $7.73 billion.

Spending on consumable items increased 0.2% to $1.73 billion in the month, while hospitality purchases grew 1.6% to $854 million and apparel spending rose 0.4% to $310 million.

Fuel buying rose 0.4% to $596 million in December, but was down 1.2% from the same month a year earlier.

A glut of oil has driven international prices downwards, sending barrels below $US30 each, with petrol falling below $1.90 a litre in December for the first time since February 2015. Ms Boniface says December's rise was presumably driven by growth in volumes.

The average value per card transaction rose to $54, from $51 in November.

An increasing number of transactions are being made on credit cards rather than debit cards, the figures show.

In December 54.3% of transactions were made on debit cards, and 45.7% on credit; compared to debit making up 55.6% of transactions, and credit 44.4% a year earlier.

(BusinessDesk)