Electronic card spending up in April

The seasonally adjusted value of electronic card spending increased in April 2009, with the total, retail, and core retail series all up from March 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today. The consumables industry (which includes food, liquor, and chemist retailing) was the main contributor to all these increases.

The total value of transactions was up 0.7 percent in April 2009, with the non-retail industry (services, including travel and health, and wholesaling) being the second-largest contributor to the increase. The rises were partly offset by falls in the apparel (clothing, soft-goods, and footwear retailing), and automotive fuel retailing industries. Latest figures indicate that, following a period of decline in late 2008, the sales trend for total transactions has been positive so far in 2009.

In the retail industries, the value of transactions was up 0.3 percent in April 2009, the third consecutive monthly increase. The retail trend series also declined in late 2008, but latest figures indicate small increases since a low point in January 2009.

Transactions in core retail (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) were up 0.5 percent in April 2009 following a 0.8 percent increase in March. Having increased almost continuously since the series began, the trend for sales in core retail flattened between November 2008 and February 2009, but latest figures suggest it has picked up again in the last two months.

The year ending April 2009 saw the biggest annual drop in credit card usage as a proportion of the total value of transactions (and a corresponding rise in debit card usage) since the series began. Credit cards accounted for 45.6 percent of transactions, down from 46.6 percent in the year ended April 2008.