Growth In Consumer Spending At A Five-Year Low

Consumer spending growth was at its slowest in five years, capping off a difficult trading year for retailers.

Data from payments company Worldline showed consumer spending through core retail merchants - excluding hospitality - rose 0.8 percent last year, from the year before.

The average transaction size also declined by 0.6 percent to $50.35 in 2024.

Worldline chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said the low spending growth confirmed a difficult year for merchants.

"While consumers may have made more transactions through retailers in Worldline NZ's payments network than the previous year, the annual underlying spending growth - that is, the actual increase in dollars spent - was the lowest we've seen in the last five years," he said.

In the hospitality sector, the value of spending fell 2.7 percent in 2024 from a year earlier.

Looking at December spending, Worldline said consumer spending processed through all non-food core retail merchants was down 0.7 percent on December 2023.

"Figures for the month confirm the pattern previously reported for pre-Christmas spending. That is, the traditional end-of-year spending spree did occur but was not enough to push spending above year-ago levels in the major cities," Proffit said.

Annual declines occurred in Auckland/Northland and Wellington, with both areas down 2 percent from December 2023, while Canterbury fell 0.4 percent.

The biggest decline was in Marlborough, which fell 2.2 percent.

However, some regions saw spending growth, with the West Coast up 4.2 percent and Whanganui 3.4 percent higher than December 2023.