Spending on vehicles and fuel increases
Retail card spending on motor vehicles climbed $1.1 million last month when compared to December 2019’s figures, according to Stats NZ.
The 0.6 per cent increase came as most industries also enjoyed a jump in spending from the previous month, with Kiwis also splashing an extra $8.7m – or 1.5 per cent – on fuel during January.
Customers forked out $185m through electronic card transactions in the vehicle industry in January. The monthly total was $7m, or four per cent, more than was spent in the same month of 2019.
Overall, spending in retail industries fell $5m in January of this year compared to December’s figures, a dip of 0.1 per cent.
Spending on fuel and motor vehicles were the biggest climbers, with transactions for durables also increasing by $4m, or 0.3 per cent. Hospitality was the big loser with an $11m, or one per cent, drop in spending by the end of the month.
“Retail card spending has slowed over the last couple of months on the back of a very strong November month,” retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said.
“The industries that fell this month compared with December had falls that were quite small, with values only falling by $11 million or less.”
Cardholders made 158 million transactions across all industries in January 2020, with an average value of $50 per transaction. The total amount spent using electronic cards during the month was $8 billion.
