Seasonally adjusted debit and credit card spending rose by $551 million (7.0 percent) in April, Stats NZ said today.
This is a larger increase than was seen in the previous month, when spending rose by only 1.7 percent.
| Month | Actual | Seasonally adjusted |
| Apr-19 | 5470002000 | 5685102000 |
| May-19 | 5520094000 | 5612168000 |
| Jun-19 | 5280275000 | 5619547000 |
| Jul-19 | 5359308000 | 5581840000 |
| Aug-19 | 5485007000 | 5680107000 |
| Sep-19 | 5345536000 | 5700610000 |
| Oct-19 | 5769564000 | 5706668000 |
| Nov-19 | 6171222000 | 5853453000 |
| Dec-19 | 7209206000 | 5864586000 |
| Jan-20 | 5891439000 | 5880263000 |
| Feb-20 | 5691140000 | 5903030000 |
| Mar-20 | 5651491000 | 5637832000 |
| Apr-20 | 2870608000 | 2966015000 |
| May-20 | 5188203000 | 5273341000 |
| Jun-20 | 5701230000 | 6085453000 |
| Jul-20 | 5968957000 | 6123635000 |
| Aug-20 | 5438997000 | 5701674000 |
| Sep-20 | 5734401000 | 6089260000 |
| Oct-20 | 6250722000 | 6080324000 |
| Nov-20 | 6256029000 | 6052486000 |
| Dec-20 | 7459526000 | 6026144000 |
| Jan-21 | 6005676000 | 6021731000 |
| Feb-21 | 5391444000 | 5850865000 |
| Mar-21 | 5937346000 | 5889606000 |
| Apr-21 | 5989711000 | 6160383000 |
| May-21 | 6129789000 | 6258845000 |
| Jun-21 | 5930914000 | 6312068000 |
| Jul-21 | 6252189000 | 6342914000 |
| Aug-21 | 4821625000 | 5107484000 |
| Sep-21 | 4878099000 | 5138813000 |
| Oct-21 | 5774430000 | 5666644000 |
| Nov-21 | 6436912000 | 6214877000 |
| Dec-21 | 7770984000 | 6231905000 |
| Jan-22 | 6346436000 | 6417997000 |
| Feb-22 | 5449256000 | 5921059000 |
| Mar-22 | 5910254000 | 5846060000 |
| Apr-22 | 6113927000 | 6256922000 |
"With New Zealand moving to the Orange setting just before Easter, Kiwis could enjoy the long weekend and the school holidays with greater freedom. This is reflected in the electronic card spending data, which saw increases across all spending categories," business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
Core retail sales saw a strong increase (7.4 percent) in April. Core retail includes consumables, durables, hospitality, and apparel. The increase was mostly driven by spending on consumables, up $118 million (5.2 percent), and apparel, up $46 million (16.8 percent).
The consumables industry includes groceries and liquor, while the apparel industry includes clothing, shoes, jewellery, and watches.
| Industry (ANZSIC06) | $ |
| Consumables | 117555000 |
| Durables | 14501000 |
| Apparel | 46238000 |
| Motor Vehicles excl. fuel | 1039000 |
| Fuel | 18288000 |
| Non-retail excl. services | 48231000 |
| Services | 20555000 |
The total amount of card spending on services rose by $21 million (6.9 percent) between March and April 2022. This category includes repair and maintenance and personal care, funeral, and other personal services.
In actual terms, card spending on hospitality continued to decrease, down $56 million (4.9 percent) compared with April 2021.
Total actual spending using electronic cards was $8.1 billion, up 2.9 percent from April 2021.
Values are only available at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.
