Spending on cars stays flat

Retail card spending on vehicles was flat last month compared with July 2022, when adjusted for seasonal effects, and the total came in at $202 million for the second consecutive month.

The amount splurged on the industry by people using credit and debit cards has remained relatively stable so far in 2022, peaking at $209m in January and going no lower than the $201m recorded in February.

However, August’s figure was a substantial jump from the seasonally adjusted $120m splashed out in the same month of 2021 when Covid lockdowns impacted trade, according to the latest figures from Stats NZ.

In actual terms, the value of electronic card transactions for vehicles was $205m last month, up from $204m in July. While year-on-year, last month’s figure was $87m, or 73.3 per cent, higher than the $118m spent in August 2021.

Retail card spending across all industries rose $55m, or 0.9 per cent, last month compared with July, when adjusted for seasonal effects.

The increase largely came from spending on consumables, up $18m and 0.7 per cent. Consumables include items such as groceries from supermarkets and liquor.

Spending on fuel dropped by $17m, or 2.8 per cent, between July and August this year and totalled $585m.

Ricky Ho, business performance manager at Stats NZ, says: “This fall was influenced by lower fuel prices in August.”

In actual terms, total card spending last month rose year-on-year by $2.1 billion, or 32.5 per cent, when compared with August 2021.

“In mid-August 2021, all of New Zealand moved to alert level four, meaning spending on items such as restaurants, hotels, and non-essential items was significantly reduced,” explains Ho. “Since then, spending has bounced back because of fewer restrictions.”