The country’s retail spending on debit and credit cards fell in December, led by a decline in purchases of durable goods. Consumer spending has also decreased at the same time.

Statistics New Zealand figures indicate spending on core retail fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4 per cent to $4.02 billion. Including fuel and auto-related items, retail spending dipped 0.2 per cent.

The largest retail movements in December were in durables, which encompasses furniture, hardware and appliance retailing, where card spending was down 1.8 per cent or $21 million, and hospitality, up 1.6 per cent or $13 million.

Core retail spending, excluding vehicle-related industries, fell 0.4 per cent in December following a 0.3 per cent rise the previous month.

Fuel purchases increased rose 0.4 per cent to $596 million in December, but was down 1.2 per cent from the same month the previous year.

The average value per card transaction rose to $54, from $51 in November.

The figures also indicate that an increasing number of transactions are being made on credit cards rather than debit cards.

In December 54.3 per cent of transactions were made on debit cards, and 45.7 per cent on credit; compared to debit making up 55.6 per cent of transactions, and credit 44.4 per cent the previous year.