Card spending falls in all core retail industries

Electronic card spending in the core retail industries (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) fell 0.9 percent in September 2012, after removing seasonal fluctuations, Statistics New Zealand said today.  This follows an increase of 0.9 percent in August 2012.

"Card spending fell in all four core retail industries this month, with consumables having the largest fall," acting industry and labour statistics manager Tehseen Islam said.

"This is a turnaround from August when all the core retail industries had rises."

Consumables (down $10 million or 0.6 percent) was the main contributor to the fall in core retail, but there were also smaller decreases in all other core retail industries.

Total retail spending (which includes the motor vehicle-related industries) decreased 0.6 percent in September 2012, following a 2.7 percent increase in the previous month. Fuel retailing rose just 0.2 percent ($2 million) in September 2012, following a large rise in August.

The total value of electronic card spending decreased 0.6 percent.  This follows an increase of 2.1 percent in August 2012.

The trends for both the core retail and total series remain positive but the rate of growth has weakened in recent months. The retail trend is also positive but has eased since May 2012.

See also:  Electronic Card Transactions: September 2012  –  Information release