Total retail card spending fell $113 million (1.7 percent) in May 2023 compared with April 2023, when adjusted for seasonal effects, according to data released by Stats NZ today.
| Month | Actual | Seasonally adjusted |
| May-20 | 5188203000 | 5288348000 |
| Jun-20 | 5701230000 | 6111355000 |
| Jul-20 | 5968957000 | 6148381000 |
| Aug-20 | 5438997000 | 5721622000 |
| Sep-20 | 5734401000 | 6092214000 |
| Oct-20 | 6250722000 | 6063816000 |
| Nov-20 | 6256029000 | 6026206000 |
| Dec-20 | 7459526000 | 6011460000 |
| Jan-21 | 6005676000 | 6005863000 |
| Feb-21 | 5391444000 | 5854233000 |
| Mar-21 | 5937346000 | 5889823000 |
| Apr-21 | 5989711000 | 6126654000 |
| May-21 | 6129789000 | 6290495000 |
| Jun-21 | 5930914000 | 6347801000 |
| Jul-21 | 6252189000 | 6390605000 |
| Aug-21 | 4821625000 | 5127207000 |
| Sep-21 | 4878099000 | 5129653000 |
| Oct-21 | 5774430000 | 5637724000 |
| Nov-21 | 6436912000 | 6196686000 |
| Dec-21 | 7770984000 | 6205702000 |
| Jan-22 | 6346436000 | 6401488000 |
| Feb-22 | 5449256000 | 5929509000 |
| Mar-22 | 5910254000 | 5837810000 |
| Apr-22 | 6113927000 | 6232163000 |
| May-22 | 6171502000 | 6403355000 |
| Jun-22 | 6042842000 | 6410518000 |
| Jul-22 | 6221006000 | 6406602000 |
| Aug-22 | 6116981000 | 6477356000 |
| Sep-22 | 6270883000 | 6549482000 |
| Oct-22 | 6734272000 | 6608992000 |
| Nov-22 | 6895341000 | 6633523000 |
| Dec-22 | 8146272000 | 6465009000 |
| Jan-23 | 6515834000 | 6651322000 |
| Feb-23 | 6085125000 | 6629945000 |
| Mar-23 | 6824429000 | 6669579000 |
| Apr-23 | 6502381000 | 6698576000 |
| May-23 | 6374064000 | 6585385000 |
Seasonally adjusted card spending fell across all retail industries (including consumables, durables, apparel, fuel, and motor vehicles), as well as the non-retail excluding services category. Services was the only industry that saw an increase, rising $1.4 million (0.4 percent) compared with April 2023.
The largest contributor to the fall in retail card spending was fuel, down $25 million (4.5 percent), followed by apparel, down $13 million (3.7 percent).
| Industry (ANZSIC06) | Percent |
| Consumables | -0.3 |
| Durables | -0.8 |
| Apparel | -3.7 |
| Motor Vehicles excl. fuel | -0.1 |
| Fuel | -4.5 |
| Non-retail excl. services | -2.4 |
| Services | 0.4 |
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories, decreased by $174 million (1.9 percent) in May 2023.
“This is the first time since December 2022 that only one industry saw a rise in spending, and the first time since February this year that total card spending fell,” business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
In actual terms, retail card spending was $6.4 billion, up 3.3 percent ($203 million) from May 2022.
Values are only available at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.
Electronic card transactions data covers the use of credit and debit cards in shops and online, and includes both the retail and services industries.
