Electronic card spending up again in May

The seasonally adjusted value of electronic card spending increased by 0.7 percent in May 2009, followinga 0.8 percent increase in April, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Both the retail and core retail serieswere also up in May 2009. The consumables industry (which includes food, liquor, and chemist retailing)was the main contributor to all these increases.

The value of transactions in core retail (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) was up 1.6percent in May 2009, the third consecutive monthly increase.

Led by consumables, all the core retailindustry groups recorded increases in May.Despite a decrease in automotive fuel retailing, the value of retail transactions was up 0.9 percent in May2009, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.

The trends for the three main series (total, retail, and core retail) are all showing growth since January2009. Latest figures indicate that the growth rate is slightly stronger than previous estimates.

However,initial trend estimates may be revised and should be used with caution until more data points are available.Monthly figures for the value of transactions made with credit and debit cards indicate that May 2009 hadthe highest proportion of debit card usage (56.9 percent) since the series began.

Dallas Welch (Mrs)
Acting Government Statistician
10 June 2009
END

See also Hot Off The Press information release Electronic Card Transactions: May 2009