Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Lower spending on food and beverage dampens retail card sales – Media release
12 February 2020
Retail card spending dipped in January with less spent on food and beverage (hospitality) and groceries and liquor (consumables), Stats NZ said today.
When adjusted for seasonal effects, retail spending fell 0.1 percent in January 2020, after a 0.9 percent fall in the December 2019 month.
“Retail card spending has slowed over the last couple of months on the back of a very strong November month,” retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said.
“The industries that fell this month compared with December had falls that were quite small, with values only falling by $11 million or less.”
The largest decrease came from the food and beverage industry (hospitality), down 1.0 percent ($11 million). This fall comes on the back of consistent growth in hospitality over the past 2 years.
The next largest decrease came from groceries and liquor (consumables) spending, down 0.3 percent ($7 million).
Apparel and vehicles (excluding fuel) were relatively unchanged compared with the December 2019 month.
Spending on fuel was up 1.5 percent ($9 million). This coincided with both the Wellington and Auckland anniversary week
