WELLINGTON, July 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand's electronic card transactions decrease, with spending in the retail industries decreasing 0.6 percent, or 40 million NZ dollars (24.37 million U.S. dollars), for the June 2024 month compared with May 2024, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
The electronic card transactions which cover debit, credit and charge card transactions with New Zealand-based merchants, can be used to indicate changes in consumer spending and economic activity, it said.
New Zealanders spent less in fuel, which was down 4.6 percent, as well as in durables, hospitality, motor vehicles and consumables, Stats NZ said.
However, the non-retail category increased by 1.7 percent from May 2024. This category includes medical and other health care, travel and tour arrangement, postal and courier delivery, and other non-retail industries, it said.
In actual terms, New Zealand cardholders made 157 million transactions across all industries in June 2024, with an average value of 55 NZ dollars (33.51 U.S. dollars) per transaction. The total amount spent using electronic cards was 8.5 billion NZ dollars (5.18 billion U.S. dollars). ■
