Falling consumer confidence in New Zealand is beginning to show up at the checkout, as the nation’s retail spending data has dipped below the trend.

Stats NZ releases its monthly spending data for the country with the caveat of year-long consumer habits. December, for example, always tops the charts while June is often the quietest month.

This means that month-on-month increases or decreases don’t often paint the full picture; newly released data for April showed a 1.3 per cent decrease from March, a decline of around $89 million.

In a sector that has experienced a slight, steady progress in spending since April 2023 – Stats NZ’s earliest comparable period – last month has not only fallen below March, but below the same point three years ago.

The largest chunk of this decline was in consumable products, which lost $60 million in spending from March. The motor vehicles category saw the largest percentage decline, at 4.1 per cent.