Retail spending using electronic cards decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.1 per cent in December 2014, according to Statistics New Zealand.

This slight fall follows a 0.2 per cent decrease in November 2014.

Statistics NZ acting business indicators manager, Tehseen Islam, said that although most retail industries were up in December, fuel spending fell significantly.

“Like November, the fall in fuel spending coincided with falling fuel prices.”

The largest retail movements in December 2014 were fuel, down $23 million or 3.2 per cent, and consumables, which grew by $14 million or 0.8 per cent.

Core retail spending, which excludes the vehicle related industries, rose 0.1 per cent in December 2014.

The total value of electronic card spending, including services and other non-retail, fell by 0.3 per cent.

Trends for the total, retail, and core retail series have all  been rising since these began in October 2002, although the total and retail series have eased in recent months.

In unadjusted terms, cardholders made 139 million transactions across all industries in December, with an average value of $54. The total amount spent across all transactions was $7.5 billion.