Embargoed until 10:45am – 19 March 2008
Retail electronic card spending flat
The value of seasonally adjusted electronic card transactions for the total retail series was down 0.1 percent in
February 2008 compared with January 2008, Statistics New Zealand said today. The consumables, durables, and hospitality
industries increased during February, but did not offset the decrease in the motor vehicle-related industries, which
coincided with a fall in fuel prices.
The seasonally adjusted value of core retail electronic card transactions (which excludes the motor vehiclerelated
industries) was up 0.6 percent in February 2008. The trend for the core retail series has eased since August 2007.
In February 2008, there were 81 million electronic transactions totalling $4.5 billion. When adjusted for seasonal
fluctuations, this represents a 0.2 percent decrease in the value of total card spending compared with January 2008.
The Electronic Card Transaction series measures the number and value of debit, credit and charge card transactions with
New Zealand-based merchants. It is a census of all card transactions processed within New Zealand. Transactions by
overseas card-holders in New Zealand are included; transactions by New Zealand card-holders overseas are excluded.
The data is released as an experimental series and Statistics NZ acknowledges the cooperation of the private sector in
providing the data for publication.
Geoff Bascand
Government Statistician
19 March 2008
ENDS