The increase in New Zealand’s retail spending increased September were led by rises in the food-related industries, Statistics New Zealand reported.
Two food-related industries – supermarket and grocery stores – led the increase. Sales volume for supermarket and grocery stores was up 1.9 percent, while food and beverage services sales were up 3.0 percent. Twelve of the 15 retail industries also had higher sales volumes.
The total value of retail sales rose 0.9 percent. with sales rising in nine of the 15 retail industries. For core retail, the sales value rose 0.8 percent.
Statistics New Zealand said the the trends for both total retail sales volumes, and values, have generally been rising since mid-2009.
In actual terms, the value of total retail sales was USD18.3 billion in the September 2014 quarter, up 4.1 percent compared with the September 2013 quarter.