New Zealand retail sales volumes grew at their strongest rate in nearly five years in the third quarter as a tide of foreign visitors spent strongly during the Rugby World Cup event, but an early rise in interest rates is still unlikely amid a murky global outlook.

Sales volumes, which strip out price movements, rose a seasonally adjusted 2.2 percent in the three months to 30 September, the biggest increase since December 2006, official data showed on Monday, easily surpassing expectations of a 0.7 percent rise.