Retail card spending in New Zealand rises by $66 mn in Oct 2022

The increase in card spending was led by durables, up $46 million (2.8 per cent), and consumables, up $23 million (0.9 per cent), according to official data agency Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ). Changes in seasonally adjusted card transaction values for apparel in September 2022–October 2022 added up to $1,277,000.

“This is the first month where spending has increased across all categories since May 2022. The higher spending on durables this month could have been influenced by people buying items in preparation for summer. Card spending could also have been impacted by the increase in prices over the last several months,” said business performance manager Ricky Ho while adding that card spending this time last year was affected by COVID-19 although this year there no alert level or travel restrictions.

Total electronic card spending in New Zealand rose $88 million (1.0 per cent) in October 2022 compared with September 2022, when adjusted for seasonal effects. Overall card spending continued to increase for the third consecutive month, with retail card spending increasing $66 million (1.0 per cent), according to Statistics New Zealand (Stats NZ).

In actual terms, total card spending was $9.1 billion, up 20.2 per cent from October 2021.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)