Credit card retail spending up in July

NZPA

Tuesday 9th August 2011

The value of electronic card transactions in core retail increased 0.5 percent in July, compared with June.

The figure is seasonally adjusted and excludes motor vehicle related industries, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Despite the increase, the value of total transactions was flat, up just 0.2 percent.

There were rises in all core retail industries in July, with hospitality (which includes accommodation, bars, cafes, restaurants and takeaway retailing) the main contributor to the increase, with a 1.5 percent rise.

SNZ said there have been consistent rises in hospitality since March.

When the two vehicle-related industries (motor vehicles/parts and fuel) were included, the value of transactions in retail increased 0.4 percent, it said.

Fuel retailing was down 1.4 percent in July, after falling 3.7 percent in June and 4.6 percent in May. These falls came after eight consecutive monthly rises and coincided with a recent decline in fuel prices.

Trends for the value of transactions have been increasing since January 2009. The core retail trend has generally been increasing since the series began in October 2002, with the rate of increase strengthening since December last year.

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