Vehicle spending on the rise

Retail expenditure on motor vehicles using electronic cards totalled $198 million last month, a jump of $5.1m or 2.6 per cent from October.

The latest seasonally adjusted figure also shows transactions for the sector rose by $6m or 3.1 per cent when compared with November last year.

Transactions for fuel increased by $8.7m or 1.8 per cent month-on-month to total $488m in November, according to Stats NZ.

Spending on fuel using electronic cards also fell by $11m or 2.2 per cent on an annual basis.

Overall spending in the retail industries rose by $86m or 1.2 per cent to $7 billion last month.

Durables reported the biggest monthly climb in dollar terms, rising $35m or 2.1 per cent to $1.67b.

In actual terms, cardholders made 185 million transactions across all industries in November with an average value of $55 per transaction. 

The total amount spent using plastic, which includes debit, credit, and charge cards, came in at $10b last month.