The electronic card transactions (ECT) series cover debit, credit, and charge card transactions with New Zealand-based merchants. The series can be used to indicate changes in consumer spending and economic activity.
Key facts
All figures are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified.
Values are at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.
September 2024 month
Changes in the value of electronic card transactions for the September 2024 month (compared with August 2024) were:
- spending in the retail industries was unchanged
- spending in the core retail industries increased 0.3 percent ($19 million).
| Month | Actual | Seasonally adjusted | Trend |
| Sep-21 | 4878099000 | 5125916000 | 6308159000 |
| Oct-21 | 5774430000 | 5667026000 | 6297770000 |
| Nov-21 | 6436912000 | 6166559000 | 6290880000 |
| Dec-21 | 7770984000 | 6289793000 | 6288302000 |
| Jan-22 | 6346436000 | 6349511000 | 6289158000 |
| Feb-22 | 5449256000 | 5936462000 | 6292866000 |
| Mar-22 | 5910254000 | 5843687000 | 6298712000 |
| Apr-22 | 6113927000 | 6253501000 | 6311465000 |
| May-22 | 6171502000 | 6386924000 | 6336557000 |
| Jun-22 | 6042842000 | 6387158000 | 6376465000 |
| Jul-22 | 6221006000 | 6395757000 | 6426598000 |
| Aug-22 | 6116981000 | 6447072000 | 6476439000 |
| Sep-22 | 6270883000 | 6555254000 | 6516014000 |
| Oct-22 | 6734272000 | 6657988000 | 6544919000 |
| Nov-22 | 6895341000 | 6579287000 | 6568938000 |
| Dec-22 | 8146272000 | 6548855000 | 6590986000 |
| Jan-23 | 6515834000 | 6570174000 | 6611401000 |
| Feb-23 | 6085125000 | 6629330000 | 6631168000 |
| Mar-23 | 6824429000 | 6702259000 | 6649854000 |
| Apr-23 | 6502381000 | 6701944000 | 6664075000 |
| May-23 | 6389119000 | 6599185000 | 6667153000 |
| Jun-23 | 6341161000 | 6674552000 | 6660842000 |
| Jul-23 | 6395060000 | 6633373000 | 6649426000 |
| Aug-23 | 6372791000 | 6669413000 | 6639423000 |
| Sep-23 | 6370078000 | 6626822000 | 6633860000 |
| Oct-23 | 6596333000 | 6586160000 | 6630433000 |
| Nov-23 | 7037830000 | 6668276000 | 6625677000 |
| Dec-23 | 8100650000 | 6579254000 | 6617038000 |
| Jan-24 | 6617940000 | 6637131000 | 6601300000 |
| Feb-24 | 6282994000 | 6581824000 | 6572927000 |
| Mar-24 | 6667122000 | 6531775000 | 6532491000 |
| Apr-24 | 6258117000 | 6502611000 | 6484294000 |
| May-24 | 6286155000 | 6422037000 | 6438674000 |
| Jun-24 | 6033039000 | 6379412000 | 6403309000 |
| Jul-24 | 6084715000 | 6370586000 | 6381805000 |
| Aug-24 | 6187969000 | 6380607000 | 6375816000 |
| Sep-24 | 6016467000 | 6382036000 | 6379980000 |
By retail spending category, movements were:
- hospitality, up $12 million (1.0 percent)
- consumables, up $4.1 million (0.2 percent)
- apparel, up $3.6 million (1.1 percent)
- motor vehicles (excluding fuel), up $1.4 million (0.8 percent)
- durables, down $7.8 million (0.5 percent)
- fuel, down $16 million (3.1 percent).
| Industry (ANZSIC06) | Percentage change |
| Consumables | 0.2 |
| Durables | -0.5 |
| Hospitality | 1 |
| Apparel | 1.1 |
| Motor vehicles excl. fuel | 0.8 |
| Fuel | -3.1 |
| Non-retail excl. services | 1.4 |
| Services | 1.3 |
Note, the seasonally adjusted series are adjusted independently of each other, therefore, the sum of the component categories may differ to the total.
The non-retail (excluding services) category increased by $31 million (1.4 percent) from August 2024. This category includes medical and other health care, travel and tour arrangement, postal and courier delivery, and other non-retail industries.
The services category was up $4.5 million (1.3 percent). This category includes repair and maintenance, and personal care, funeral, and other personal services.
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories (services and other non-retail), increased from August 2024, up $28 million (0.3 percent).
In actual terms, cardholders made 157 million transactions across all industries in September 2024, with an average value of $55 per transaction. The total amount spent using electronic cards was $8.6 billion.
September 2024 quarter
Changes in the seasonally adjusted value of retail electronic card transactions for the September 2024 quarter (compared with the June 2024 quarter) were:
- spending in the retail industries decreased $135 million (0.7 percent)
- spending in the core retail industries decreased $91 million (0.5 percent).
By spending category, the movements were:
- hospitality, down $94 million (2.5 percent)
- fuel, down $70 million (4.4 percent)
- durables, down $50 million (1.1 percent)
- apparel, down $19 million (2.0 percent)
- motor vehicles (excluding fuel), down $5.7 million (1.0 percent)
- consumables, up $23 million (0.3 percent).
The non-retail (excluding services) category was up $185 million (2.7 percent) and the services category was up $6.2 million (0.6 percent).
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories (services and other non-retail), was $27.2 billion, down $11 million (0.0 percent) compared with the June 2024 quarter.
Data quality
Since the June 2024 month there has been a change in the industry classifications for some of the ECT data provided to Stats NZ. As more data becomes available in coming months, we will advise on how we integrate these industry classification changes into our time series. In the interim, we have imputed some data to ensure consistency of industry level time series.
More data
Use Infoshare to access the electronic card transactions time series:
Subject category: Economic indicators
Group: Electronic card transactions (ANZSIC06) - ECT
Definitions and metadata
Electronic card transactions data collection methodology - DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce electronic card transaction statistics.
Electronic card transactions concepts - DataInfo+ gives definitions of terms used in this release.
Technical enquiries
Yvonne Fakahau
04 931 4600
[email protected]
ISSN 1178-0258
Next release
Electronic card transactions: October 2024 will be released on 12 November 2024.
