Vehicle spending nudges up

Spending on motor vehicles using electronic cards rose by $1.2 million, or 0.6 per cent, month-on-month to total $195m in September, according to new data from Stats NZ.

The seasonally adjusted figure was also up by $1m, or 0.5 per cent, from the same month of 2025.

As for the September quarter, consumers used retail cards to spend $575m on vehicles, which was up by $1.8m and 0.3 per cent from the June quarter.

However, the latest three-month tally was down $14m and 2.4 per cent from the September 2025 quarter.

Transactions for fuel increased by $15m, or 2.9 per cent, month-on-month to $524m in September. 

The category’s September quarter figures grew by $88m, or 6.5 per cent, from the same period last year to $1.46 billion, but were down by $71m and 4.4 per cent from the June quarter.

Overall spending in the retail industries dropped by $30m, or 0.4 per cent, to $6.98b last month.

Consumables was the only other industry to record a month-on-month increase in September after rising $8m, or 0.3 per cent, to $2.87b.

In actual terms, cardholders made 167 million transactions across all industries last month with an average value of $55 per transaction. 

The total amount spent using plastic, which includes debit, credit, and charge cards, came in at $9.2b last month.