The electronic card transactions (ECT) series cover debit, credit, and charge card transactions with New Zealand-based merchants. The series can be used to indicate changes in consumer spending and economic activity.
Key facts
All figures are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified.
Values are at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.
May 2026 month
Changes in the value of electronic card transactions for the May 2026 month (compared with April 2026) were:
- spending in the retail industries increased 1.7 percent ($121 million)
- spending in the core retail industries increased 2.2 percent ($137 million).
| “Month” | “Actual” | “Seasonally adjusted” | “Trend” |
| “May-23” | “6731522000” | “6964229000” | “7036985000” |
| “Jun-23” | “6685904000” | “7062816000” | “7048273000” |
| “Jul-23” | “6765373000” | “7048621000” | “7052057000” |
| “Aug-23” | “6754616000” | “7077153000” | “7052146000” |
| “Sep-23” | “6747040000” | “7050853000” | “7050717000” |
| “Oct-23” | “6995276000” | “7016037000” | “7046028000” |
| “Nov-23” | “7499219000” | “7071529000” | “7036946000” |
| “Dec-23” | “8608488000” | “6971110000” | “7026363000” |
| “Jan-24” | “7070281000” | “7060900000” | “7014050000” |
| “Feb-24” | “6724446000” | “6981998000” | “6993626000” |
| “Mar-24” | “7129902000” | “6960563000” | “6962673000” |
| “Apr-24” | “6685214000” | “6962944000” | “6921857000” |
| “May-24” | “6717430000” | “6885599000” | “6880128000” |
| “Jun-24” | “6402501000” | “6801670000” | “6846350000” |
| “Jul-24” | “6474046000” | “6809154000” | “6826041000” |
| “Aug-24” | “6589334000” | “6820937000” | “6824506000” |
| “Sep-24” | “6406495000” | “6837373000” | “6840777000” |
| “Oct-24” | “6943425000” | “6902533000” | “6868432000” |
| “Nov-24” | “7354746000” | “6858114000” | “6896196000” |
| “Dec-24” | “8610063000” | “7070643000” | “6912866000” |
| “Jan-25” | “7077398000” | “6965056000” | “6914838000” |
| “Feb-25” | “6455973000” | “6937724000” | “6904192000” |
| “Mar-25” | “6960175000” | “6836591000” | “6887584000” |
| “Apr-25” | “6614880000” | “6876833000” | “6873115000” |
| “May-25” | “6710150000” | “6835736000” | “6865497000” |
| “Jun-25” | “6382551000” | “6875743000” | “6868151000” |
| “Jul-25” | “6581483000” | “6888861000” | “6884381000” |
| “Aug-25” | “6647876000” | “6931119000” | “6906954000” |
| “Sep-25” | “6471156000” | “6904084000” | “6927674000” |
| “Oct-25” | “7000400000” | “6924744000” | “6946543000” |
| “Nov-25” | “7475835000” | “7010931000” | “6963503000” |
| “Dec-25” | “8563854000” | “7001454000” | “6978711000” |
| “Jan-26” | “7103210000” | “6926566000” | “6994906000” |
| “Feb-26” | “6552600000” | “7025517000” | “7013267000” |
| “Mar-26” | “7148729000” | “7076517000” | “7034115000” |
| “Apr-26” | “6748253000” | “6991692000” | “7056609000” |
| “May-26” | “6929241000” | “7112536000” | “7080432000” |
By retail spending category, movements were:
- durables, up $45 million (2.7 percent)
- hospitality, up $36 million (2.5 percent)
- consumables, up $27 million (0.9 percent)
- apparel, up $9.9 million (3.1 percent)
- motor vehicles (excluding fuel), up $3.0 million (1.6 percent)
- fuel, down $4.2 million (0.8 percent).
| “Industry (ANZSIC06)” | “%” |
| “Consumables” | ” 0.9″ |
| “Durables” | ” 2.7″ |
| “Hospitality” | ” 2.5″ |
| “Apparel” | ” 3.1″ |
| “Motor vehicles excl. fuel” | ” 1.6″ |
| “Fuel” | “-0.8” |
| “Non-retail excl. services” | ” 2.6″ |
| “Services” | ” 0.2″ |
The non-retail (excluding services) category increased $60 million (2.6 percent) from April 2026. This category includes medical and other health care, travel and tour arrangement, postal and courier delivery, and other non-retail industries.
The services category was up $0.6 million (0.2 percent). This category includes repair and maintenance, and personal care, funeral, and other personal services.
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories (services and other non-retail), increased from April 2026, up $212 million (2.2 percent).
In actual terms, cardholders made 178 million transactions across all industries in May 2026, with an average value of $54 per transaction. The total amount spent using electronic cards was $9.6 billion.
About the data
ECT figures are based on aggregated administrative data generated in the process of administering New Zealand-based electronic transactions.
Stats NZ does not control how data providers classify their merchants, and we are unable to see which merchants sit within each industry.
Some transactions cannot be categorised by data providers and are therefore excluded from ECT results.
The ECT figures reflect the data provided, which can change over time. For example, when merchants switch to data providers not covered by Stats NZ, coverage may shift and reported totals may change.
More data
Use Infoshare to access the electronic card transactions time series:
Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: Electronic card transactions (ANZSIC06) – ECT
Definitions and metadata
Electronic card transactions data collection methodology – DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce electronic card transaction statistics.
Electronic card transactions concepts – DataInfo+ gives definitions of terms used in this release.
Technical enquiries
Economic indicators team
[email protected]
04 931 4600
ISSN 1178-0258
Next release
Electronic card transactions: June 2026 will be released on 15 July 2026.
