Core retail card spending increase offset by fuel

The seasonally adjusted value of electronic card transactions in core retail (which excludes the motor vehicle related industries) was up 1.0 per cent in May 2010, compared with April 2010, Statistics NZ has said.

This increase followed a decrease of 1.9 per cent in April 2010, and was due to a rise in the value of transactions in nearly all core retail industries.

The seasonally adjusted value of transactions in the retail and total series was up 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively, in May.

These increases, dominated by the core retail industries, occurred despite a 5.3 per cent fall in fuel retailing.

The non-retail industries (which include services such as travel and health, and wholesaling) were up just 0.2 per cent in May 2010.

The core retail trend was flat from November 2009 to March 2010, but the growth rate has picked up slightly during the last two months. The retail and total trend series have both been rising since January 2009, but have flattened in recent months.

These trend estimates may be revised and should be used with caution until more data points are available.

Annual credit card transactions as a proportion of the total transaction value has been declining since September 2008 (with a corresponding increase in debit card use).

Credit cards accounted for 44.1 per cent of transactions in the year to May 2010, the lowest proportion since the series began.