Motor vehicles and parts saw the biggest decline in retail spending in the June 2022 quarter, according to Stats NZ.
The sector was down 5.8% ($230.5 million) in seasonally adjusted volumes, after a 5.3% fall in the March 2022 quarter.
“Some vehicle dealers commented in their surveys that supply issues led to lower sales this quarter,” business financial statistics manager Melissa McKenzie says.
More vehicles became eligible for the clean car rebate on April 1 and fees came into effect for high emission vehicles.
“This may also have influenced the peak seen in vehicle and parts retailing in the December 2021 quarter and the fall in the June 2022 quarter,” McKenzie says.
Across all industries, the volume of total retail sales fell 2.3% in the June 2022 quarter, after a 0.9% decrease in the March 2022 quarter when adjusting for price and seasonal effects.
It’s the second time retail sales volumes have fallen over two consecutive quarters since the COVID-19 outbreak with the first in the March and June 2020 quarters.
Ten of the 15 retail industries had lower sales volumes in the June 2022 quarter compared with the March 2022 quarter.
Electrical and electronic goods retailing had the second-largest decrease in the volume of sales, down 6.1%; followed by supermarket and grocery stores with a fall of 2.9%; and hardware, building, and garden supplies down 5.3%, compared with the March 2022 quarter.
The largest rises were in food and beverage services, up 3.3%, and accommodation, up 11%.
“The increases in food and beverage services, and accommodation sales volumes coincided with the progressive easing of border restrictions in New Zealand over the quarter,” McKenzie says.
Without accounting for price effects and seasonal patterns, in actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $28.5 billion in the June 2022 quarter, up 3.8% ($1 billion) compared with the June 2021 quarter.
