Card spending increases in May

Seasonally adjusted card spending rose $123 million (1.4 percent) in May 2022 compared with April 2022, making this the third consecutive monthly rise, Stats NZ said today.

MonthActualSeasonally adjusted
May-2051882030005281105000
Jun-2057012300006087004000
Jul-2059689570006126732000
Aug-2054389970005703345000
Sep-2057344010006090508000
Oct-2062507220006081044000
Nov-2062560290006052447000
Dec-2074595260006022034000
Jan-2160056760006003524000
Feb-2153914440005848497000
Mar-2159373460005891702000
Apr-2159897110006163422000
May-2161297890006272762000
Jun-2159309140006316154000
Jul-2162521890006346728000
Aug-2148216250005106059000
Sep-2148780990005140925000
Oct-2157744300005666599000
Nov-2164369120006214147000
Dec-2177709840006228419000
Jan-2263464360006396029000
Feb-2254492560005918834000
Mar-2259102540005847024000
Apr-2261139270006263923000
May-2261715020006381478000

Seasonally adjusted non-retail sales increased $100 million (5.5 percent) in May. Non-retail industries include medical and other health care, travel and tour arrangement, postal and courier delivery, and other non-retail industries.

Industry (ANZSIC06)$
Consumables6791000
Durables3696000
Apparel21968000
Motor Vehicles excl. fuel1285000
Fuel50876000
Non-retail excl. services100047000
Services15720000

Fuel spending partly contributed to the May month’s increase, up $51 million (8.9 percent) from the previous month. “The past few weeks in May saw fuel prices rising, which is reflected in electronic card spending for May,” business performance manager Ricky Ho said.

The total actual spending using electronic cards was $8.4 billion, up 3.1 percent compared with May 2021. On the other hand, the number of transactions in May 2022 decreased 7.4 percent from May 2021.

Year-on-year actual card spending on hospitality decreased, down $58 million (5.0 percent) compared with May 2021.

The electronic card transactions series covers all debit, credit, and charge card transactions with New Zealand-based merchants. It can be used to indicate changes in consumer spending and economic activity.

Values are only available at the national level and are not adjusted to price changes.

/Stats NZ Public Release. View in full here.