The total volume of retail sales fell 1.0 percent in the June 2023 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. This comes after falls of 1.6 percent and 1.1 percent in the March 2023 and December 2022 quarters respectively, after adjusting for price and seasonal effects.
Eleven of the 15 retail industries had lower sales volumes in the June 2023 quarter compared with the March 2023 quarter.
The largest contributors to the fall in the June 2023 quarter were food and beverage services, down 4.4 percent, and hardware, building, and garden supplies, down 4.8 percent.
| "" | "Actual " | "Seasonally adjusted" |
| "Jun-2018" | "22534192000" | "23202307000" |
| "Sep-2018" | "22219692000" | "23273901000" |
| "Dec-2018" | "25855443000" | "23694956000" |
| "Mar-2019" | "23307559000" | "23871069000" |
| "Jun-2019" | "23185489000" | "23833232000" |
| "Sep-2019" | "23220654000" | "24221574000" |
| "Dec-2019" | "26709078000" | "24501627000" |
| "Mar-2020" | "23853477000" | "24148267000" |
| "Jun-2020" | "19925762000" | "20464249000" |
| "Sep-2020" | "25092233000" | "26100309000" |
| "Dec-2020" | "27977684000" | "25605351000" |
| "Mar-2021" | "25426654000" | "26196901000" |
| "Jun-2021" | "26511665000" | "27128295000" |
| "Sep-2021" | "23802707000" | "24793575000" |
| "Dec-2021" | "29199341000" | "26923732000" |
| "Mar-2022" | "26007411000" | "26611904000" |
| "Jun-2022" | "25535164000" | "26110498000" |
| "Sep-2022" | "24969369000" | "26170185000" |
| "Dec-2022" | "28026047000" | "25870835000" |
| "Mar-2023" | "24939197000" | "25454744000" |
| "Jun-2023" | "24630447000" | "25210259000" |
Motor vehicle and parts retailing had the largest rise, up 3.7 percent this quarter, after a 2.1 percent fall in the March 2023 quarter.
"Increased sales reported by vehicle dealers this quarter were likely influenced by impending changes to the Clean Car Discount scheme in July," business financial statistics manager Thomas Cooper said.
Seasonally adjusted series are subject to revision as more data is collected in future periods, and as we better understand how seasonal patterns have evolved since COVID-19 impacts started in 2020.
Without adjusting for seasonal patterns and price effects, the value of total retail sales was $29 billion in the June 2023 quarter, up 2.5 percent ($725 million) compared with the June 2022 quarter.
