Smaller Regions Start to Spend More

Smaller Regions Start to Spend More

The latest figures from Paymark show that whilst spending for the nation as a whole is on the up, the increased spending evident in smaller centres is not being shared equally across the regions.

The collective growth across major centres Auckland/Northland, Christchurch and Wellington averaged out at a conservative 1.8 per cent from February 2009 to February 2010 whilst the rest of the country experienced a more impressive 3.4 per cent increase (on average).

The fastest growing regions in terms of year-on-year spend were Gisborne (+8.6 per cent), Otago (+5.6 per cent) and Waikato (+4.6 per cent).

In general terms, the extra spending outside the main population centres can be attributed to growth across two major non-discretionary categories: petrol and food outlets.

These spending patterns are also consistent with the increased volume of tourists visiting the country over the summer months, and the decline in Kiwis holidaying abroad.

Paymark CEO, Simon Tong says that the early indicators for 2010 are a source of cautious optimism.

“The growth that we see in February’s figures is encouraging, especially for the smaller regions. However, what this means in terms of continued, strong growth for the country as a whole remains to be seen”, says Simon Tong.

Spending declines were again experienced in housing-related sectors like furniture, hardware and appliances as well as clothing stores, with the only notable exception to tighter discretionary purse-strings coming in the restaurant and cafe sector, which experienced growth of 7 per cent.

The number of card transactions for the month across the Paymark network was 6.2 per cent higher than a year ago, with the value of transactions up 2.3 per cent for the same period.

ENDS

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