New Zealand sees retail sales fall in Q2

Wellington [New Zealand], August 23: New Zealand's total volume of retail sales fell 1 percent in the second quarter this year, following a decline of 1.6 percent in the first quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Wednesday.
The latest quarterly figure is also compared to a 1.1 percent fall recorded in the last quarter of 2022.
Eleven of the 15 retail industries had lower sales volumes in the June 2023 quarter than in the previous quarter, Stats NZ said.
The largest contributors to the fall in the second quarter were food and beverage services, down 4.4 percent, and hardware, building, and garden supplies, down 4.8 percent, it said.
Meanwhile, the motor vehicle and parts retailing sector reported the largest rise, up 3.7 percent, after recording a 2.1 percent fall in the first quarter, it added.
"Increased sales reported by vehicle dealers this quarter were likely influenced by impending changes to the Clean Car Discount scheme in July," business financial statistics manager Thomas Cooper said.
The value of total retail sales stood at 29 billion NZ dollars (17.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter, up 2.5 percent from a year earlier, Cooper said.
Source: Xinhua