Spending on cars grows

Consumers spent $3 million more on motor vehicles via electronic card transactions in May than the month before, according to new figures from Stats NZ .

Last month’s seasonally adjusted total came in at $193m after rising by 1.6 per cent from $190m in April this year. 

However, May’s figure was down by two per cent from $197m in the same month of 2025.

The actual amount spent on vehicles in May was $193m, which was a jump of $20m from April’s tally but down from $203m in May last year.

Fuel was the only retail category to record a month-on-month drop in May, with the seasonally adjusted amount slipping by $4.2m, or 0.8 per cent, to $536m.

Year-on-year, retail card spending for the sector increased by 13.3 per cent from $473m.

Stats NZ reports seasonally adjusted spending in the retail industries grew by $121m, or 1.7 per cent, to $7.1 billion, while transactions in core retail industries increased by 2.2 per cent to $9.8m.

In actual terms, cardholders made 178 million transactions across all industries in May with an average value of $54 per transaction. The total amount spent using electronic cards was $9.6 billion.