New Zealanders spent $645 million (9.5 percent) more on their credit and debit cards in October, compared with last month, Stats NZ said today.
“The increase indicates spending is starting to return to levels seen before the country went into lockdown in the second half of August,” business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
| Month | Actual | Seasonally adjusted |
| Oct-19 | 5769564000 | 5700951000 |
| Nov-19 | 6171222000 | 5852132000 |
| Dec-19 | 7209206000 | 5865453000 |
| Jan-20 | 5891439000 | 5865443000 |
| Feb-20 | 5691140000 | 5901785000 |
| Mar-20 | 5651491000 | 5629800000 |
| Apr-20 | 2870608000 | 2967468000 |
| May-20 | 5188203000 | 5272882000 |
| Jun-20 | 5701230000 | 6091763000 |
| Jul-20 | 5968957000 | 6138472000 |
| Aug-20 | 5438997000 | 5708184000 |
| Sep-20 | 5734401000 | 6085437000 |
| Oct-20 | 6250722000 | 6090920000 |
| Nov-20 | 6256029000 | 6049562000 |
| Dec-20 | 7459526000 | 6025369000 |
| Jan-21 | 6005676000 | 5989689000 |
| Feb-21 | 5391444000 | 5845173000 |
| Mar-21 | 5937346000 | 5888655000 |
| Apr-21 | 5989711000 | 6163270000 |
| May-21 | 6129789000 | 6267726000 |
| Jun-21 | 5930914000 | 6315612000 |
| Jul-21 | 6252189000 | 6361440000 |
| Aug-21 | 4821625000 | 5102901000 |
| Sep-21 | 4878099000 | 5151670000 |
| Oct-21 | 5774430000 | 5670693000 |
The increase in the seasonally adjusted electronic card spending in October is the largest since June 2020. Spending in the previous two months has been relatively low, especially in the retail spending category.
In October, most spending categories had large increases and were also some of the largest seen in 2021.
“This reflects the easing of restrictions in some regions, which has allowed more stores to open for non-essential shopping,” Mr Ho said.
The seasonally adjusted value of total electronic card spending in October was $7.4 billion, with the retail spending category accounting for just over three-quarters of this. Retail card spending was up $519 million (10.1 percent).
| Industry (ANZSIC06) | $ |
| Retail: Consumables | -5795000 |
| Retail: Durables | 148891000 |
| Retail: Apparel | 34831000 |
| Retail: Motor vehicles excl. fuel | 39956000 |
| Retail: Fuel | 68717000 |
| Non-retail excl. services | 104543000 |
| Services | 25063000 |
In October, the durables spending category was up $149 million (11.5 percent) and drove the increase in total card spending. This category includes many non-essential items such as furniture, hardware, and appliances.
Groceries and liquor (consumables) was the only spending category that saw a decrease in card spending over the month, down $6 million (0.2 percent) from September 2021.
“The slight dip in grocery shopping could be due to New Zealanders now having more options to eat out or have takeaways, instead of purchasing food from supermarkets,” Mr Ho said.
In actual terms, total electronic card spending was $7.5 billion, down 9.2 percent ($0.8 billion) from the same time last year.
Values are only available at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.
