New Zealand Q3 Retail Sales Rise 0.6% On Quarter

(RTTNews) - The value of retail sales in New Zealand climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2018, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday - standing at NZ$153 million.

That follows the 1.1 percent gain in the three months prior.

The volume of retail sales was relatively unchanged.

Fuel retailing had the largest increase in sales value for the September 2018 quarter (up 7.0 percent or NZ$150 million) when compared with the June 2018 quarter. This strong increase coincided with the start of the Auckland fuel tax and record fuel prices.

"The notable increase in the value of fuel sales coincided with the start of the Auckland regional fuel tax and record pump prices," retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said. "However, the rise in fuel sales was offset by falls in the food and beverage and the vehicle industries this quarter."

Food and beverage retailing sales fell 2.4 percent (NZ$71 million) in value in the latest quarter. This was the largest fall since the series began and follows a 1.9 percent rise in the June quarter.

In the September 2018 quarter, department stores had the largest rise in sales volume (up 7.4 percent). Pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing fell 3.1 percent.

A large proportion of these movements resulted from structural changes in the Warehouse Group in July 2018. These changes resulted in a subsidiary from the pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing industry moving into the department stores industry. However, this has no impact on either the total retail series, or the core retail series.

The food and beverage services industry had the largest decrease in sales volume (down 3.3 percent). This follows a 0.9 percent increase in the June quarter.

The value of sales in the North Island rose 0.8 percent (NZ$138 million) in the September 2018 quarter, after a strong 2.2 percent (NZ$388 million) rise in the June 2018 quarter. In the South Island, there was a modest 0.6 percent (NZ$34 million) fall, after a 0.3 percent (NZ$15 million) rise in the June 2018 quarter.

Of the 16 regions, 11 recorded rises while 5 recorded falls. The largest regional rise was for Waikato, up 2.2 percent (NZ$47 million). The largest fall was for the Canterbury region, down 1.5 percent (NZ$46 million).