Fresh retail card spending figures from Stats NZ indicate that New Zealand’s spending habits on vehicles remained stable through July, while spending on petrol dropped significantly.
The data group has confirmed that New Zealanders spent $204m on motor vehicles in July.
This represents a 7.6% year-on-year drop relative to the $220m recorded in July 2021, and was down approximately $800,000 on the tally from June 2022.
While motor vehicle spending was steady, the same could not be said for petrol. The amount spent on petrol plummeted in July by 39% relative to June, dropping 6.1% to $39m.
The drop can be attributed to petrol prices falling well below $3.00 per litre for 91 fuel in mid-July.
Fuel spending may also have been influenced by the recent school holiday period, and by consumers reducing the amount of driving they do.
Stats NZ business performance manager Ricky Ho acknowledged the fuel price drop, adding that it was a core contributor to retail card spending for the full month.
Overall, retail card spending across all sectors dropped by $11m, or 2%, in July.
“Lower fuel spending contributed to the fall in retail card spending,” says Ho. “Fuel prices started to decrease during the second half of July.”
