Car sales weigh on retail stats

A drop in trade for motor vehicles and parts was a major contributor to New Zealand’s total retail sales volume falling 3.4 per cent in the September 2023 quarter compared with the same period of last year, according to figures from Stats NZ.

The data, adjusted for price effects, shows sales volumes for cars dropped by 4.1 per cent over the same timeframe, tumbling from $3.7 billion to $3.6b.

As for retail sales values, the sector increased year-on-year by 0.9 per cent and came in at $4.1b in the latest September quarter. This was up from $4b a year earlier.

Katrina Dewbery, business financial statistics manager at Stats NZ, says the overall decline in retail sales volumes across all industries follows a 3.5 per cent decrease in the June 2023 quarter.

“Decreases in hardware and motor vehicle retailing drove the fall in the total volume of retail sales in the September 2023 quarter, compared with the September 2022 quarter,” she explains.

Hardware was down by 10.5 per cent to $2.1b as the sales volumes for all industries hit $24.1b in the September 2023 quarter, compared with $25b in the same spell a year ago,

Fuel retailing was also down in the three-month period from July to September, with its volumes dipping 5.5 per cent to $1.5b.

Stats NZ notes while there was a year-on-year decline in the latest overall sales volume figure, it was relatively unchanged at $25b when compared to the June 2023 quarter. 

Nine of the 15 industries recorded higher seasonally adjusted sales volumes between the quarters but retailing for fuel and motor vehicle and parts sectors were two of the big moves and both fell by 3.4 per cent.