Quiet start for retail in 2022

The volume of retail sales was relatively unchanged in the March 2022 quarter, following a strong increase in the December 2021 quarter, Stats NZ said today.

After price effects and seasonal patterns were removed, total sales volumes fell 0.5 percent in the March 2022 quarter, following an 8.3 percent increase in the December 2021 quarter.

Actual Seasonally adjusted
Mar-172193037507322213701450
Jun-172185674716222532816910
Sep-172163473886622727968810
Dec-172498461269323009190220
Mar-182255222927422963231530
Jun-182253419171523180249460
Sep-182221969169023291777080
Dec-182585544260023686540060
Mar-192330755886023897362990
Jun-192318548866023787444420
Sep-192322065414024251440000
Dec-192670907770024513691410
Mar-202385347651024179656420
Jun-201992576219020415129030
Sep-202509223265026144957270
Dec-202797768408025601210740
Mar-212542665399026271088530
Jun-212651166500027050611180
Sep-212380270677024811776780
Dec-212919934117026881555260
Mar-222600741100026749297760

“Continued volatility in vehicle and hardware sales resulted in flat retail volumes this quarter,” business financial statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said.

The largest falls were in motor vehicle and parts retailing, down 4.0 percent, and hardware, building, and garden supplies, down 5.5 percent. Both industries recorded strong rises of 19 percent and 32 percent respectively in the December 2021 quarter.

The largest rises were in electrical and electronic goods, up 2.7 percent, and pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing, up 3.5 percent, compared with the December 2021 quarter.

Without accounting for price effects and seasonal patterns, in actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $28.4 billion in the March 2022 quarter, up 8.0 percent ($2.1 billion) compared with the March 2021 quarter.

Retail trade dashboard

Stats NZ’s Retail trade dashboard has further details on retail industries over time – view, compare, and download data for specific retail industries, or data by geographic regions.

We are reviewing the future of the retail trade dashboard. We would like to hear how you use this tool and the value it offers beyond what is included in our quarterly information release and Infoshare tables. Please email [email protected] (Melissa McKenzie, Manager – Business financial statistics) with any feedback.

/Stats NZ Public Release. View in full here.