Economy / Card spending
Are people spending more?
$9.7bspent on cards in Sep 2026 (seasonally adjusted), −0.5% on the month before
+1.0%card spending in the year to Sep 2026, compared with the year before
3.7%rise in consumer prices over the year to the Sep 2026 quarter
Spending rose more slowly than prices, so people are buying less in real terms.
Monthly card spending
$ million, seasonally adjusted
What people spend on
Card spending by type ($ million), year to Sep 2026
About these numbers
Electronic card transactions are debit and credit card spending processed in New Zealand, by the type of business. They don't include cash, bank transfers or buy-now-pay-later.
Buying more or less compares the change in spending with the change in prices from Stats NZ's monthly price indexes. It's an approximation: the shops and products don't match exactly.
Sources: Stats NZ Electronic card transactions, September 2026; selected price indexes; consumers price index.