Friday 09 December 2016 11:42 AM
NZ credit, debit card spending falls in November amid earthquake disruption
By Tina Morrison
Dec. 9 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand retail spending on electronic cards fell in November, snapping two consecutive
months of gains, amid disruption from the Kaikoura earthquake.
Retail spending dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent last month, after a 0.6 percent gain in October and a 2.1
percent rise in September, Statistics New Zealand said. Actual retail spending climbed 5.1 percent to $5.2 billion in
November from the same month a year earlier, the agency said.
Core retail spending, which excludes vehicle-related industries, dropped 0.4 percent in November from October, with
apparel spending down 3.2 percent, its biggest monthly drop since a 3.5 percent decline in July 2013. Spending on
durables fell 0.7 percent, and hospitality dropped 0.3 percent, while consumable spending bucked the trend, up 0.8
percent. The statistics agency said it wasn't yet sure how sales may have been affected by the Nov. 14 Kaikoura
earthquake, which caused ongoing disruption in central Wellington.
"Spending growth took a small step back in November, but given the month contained the North Canterbury earthquake, this
is no great surprise," ASB economist Daniel Snowden said in a note. "As well as spending being directly impacted in the
quake-affected areas, there is also potential for distribution disruption, impacting spending in non-quake impacted
areas."
ASB's Snowden said he expected future spending growth to remain firm, supported by high net migration, recovering dairy
prices and record low interest rates.
Of the non-retail industries, non-retail excluding services fell 1.4 percent from October while spending in the services
industry declined 2.3 percent.
Spending on fuel rose 2.5 percent, while vehicle spending slipped 2.8 percent.
In actual terms, card-holders made 138 million transactions in November with an average value of $50. The total amount
spent was $6.9 billion.
(BusinessDesk)