Car and fuel spending fall

Spending on motor vehicles via electronic card transactions dropped by $8.1 million, or 4.1 per cent, last month when compared to March.

Kiwis’ fuel expenditure also fell despite rising prices at the pump. It tumbled by $1m and two per cent, reports Stats NZ.

Overall spending in retail and core-retail industries went down by 1.3 per cent, and by $89m and $84m respectively. Expenditure on consumables decreased by 2.1 per cent, on hospitality by 1.3 per cent and durables by 1.1 per cent, indicating New Zealanders are keeping their purse strings tight.

The non-retail, excluding services, category fell by $94m and four per cent in April compared to March. This includes medical and other health care, travel and tour arrangement, postal and courier delivery, and other non-retail industries.

The services category, includes repair and maintenance, and personal care, funeral and other personal services, went down by $12m and three per cent over the same timescale 

The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories, dropped by $160m and 1.6 per cent. The amount spent using such cards totalled $9.2 billion.