The ANZ Truckometer light traffic index eased 0.8% month-on-month in July while the heavy traffic fell 1.1% m/m.
“Transport disruptions and the tourism stop continue to affect the data, particularly for heavy traffic,” ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner says.
“Traffic data remains volatile. The normal relationship between GDP and traffic data may not hold as closely as normal this year.
“But overall, the traffic data shows the catch-up overshoot continuing to ease.
“The New Zealand economy is undeniably running hot. Some of it is artificial, insofar as the supply of both goods and labour has been severely hit by the closed border, but it would be a mistake to not recognise that demand is also very strong.
“Households in particular are spending freely and this is seeing ongoing high levels of both car and truck traffic around the country,” Zollner says.
After adjusting for seasonality, traffic flows rose on three of the 11 roads in the heavy traffic index in July, and on two of the 10 roads in the light traffic index.
