Electronic card spending up in September

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the total value of electronic card transactions increased 0.4 percent in September 2009 compared with August 2009, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The industries contributing the most to this increase were automotive fuel retailing, consumables (includes food, liquor, and chemist retailing), and services (includes personal and household services, including hire and repair).

The value of transactions in the retail industries rose 0.7 percent in September 2009, with automotive fuel retailing the biggest contributor. Core retailing (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) saw a smaller increase of 0.4 percent, with contributions from the consumables and services industries.

Trends for the value of transactions in the total, retail, and core retail series have all been increasing since January 2009. The trend in total transactions has been rising at an average monthly rate of 0.4 percent since then, while core retail has risen at an average of 0.3 percent. For the retail series, latest figures indicate the trend may have picked up in the last two months.

Geoff Bascand 9 October 2009
Government Statistician