An Emirates flight arrives at Christchurch Airport last month. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
People spent more on health, pharmaceuticals and travel services last month but less on food and liquor, according to new Stats NZ figures.
Stats NZ says retail card spending rose 0.7 percent in March over February, driven by sales in non-retail industries, which include travel agencies and tour arrangement services, health and pharmaceuticals, wholesaling, and other industries.
Total seasonally adjusted card spending rose in March, up $278 million, or 3.1 percent.
"Retail card spending rose across all categories except for groceries and liquor," Stats NZ business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
Sales of groceries and liquor fell $32m, or 1.2 percent, after a rise of a similar magnitude the month prior.
Meanwhile sales of durable goods, such as furniture, hardware, appliances and fuel were also down.
For the March quarter, seasonally adjusted retail spending increased by $227m or 1.2 percent, while the total spend increased by $401m, or 1.7 percent from the December 2022 quarter.
"The rise in total card spending during both the March quarter and March month was largely attributed to a lift in spending within the non-retail industries," Ho said.
Gains in hospitality - Westpac economist
Westpac senior economist Michael Gordon said most of the gains made in spending in March were in hospitality, which partly made up for a soft February that may have been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
"Total card spending rose by 3.1 percent for the month, led by a whopping 11.3 percent rise in non-retail sectors - a category that includes travel and tour arrangements, among other things," he said.
"Since the border was reopened last year, this category has been both markedly stronger - up more than 20 percent year-on-year - and much choppier from month to month."
Gordon said retail spending had regained ground over the first three months of this year, after an unusually soft December.
"That supports our view that the surprise 0.6 percent drop in December quarter GDP was more of an air pocket than a hard landing for the New Zealand economy," he said.
"Nevertheless, we still expect the economy to slow down and tip into recession by year-end.
"Mortgaged homeowners will be refixing at substantially higher interest rates in the months ahead, which is likely to put a squeeze on discretionary spending."