Electronic Card Transactions: November 2008 – Media Release
The seasonally adjusted value of the total Electronic Card Transaction (ECT) series decreased 2.8 percent in November 2008 compared with October 2008, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was the largest monthly drop since the series began in October 2002. The main contributor to the drop was a substantial decrease in the value of fuel sales, while fuel prices continued to decline.
The rate of growth in the total ECT trend series has eased since August 2008 and is now almost flat.
After adjusting for seasonal effects, the value of the retail ECT series was down 2.3 percent in November 2008 compared with October 2008, led by the drop in fuel sales. Smaller falls in the hospitality and durables industries were offset by a rise in the consumables industry.
The seasonally adjusted core retail ECT series (which excludes the motor vehicle-related industries) decreased 0.5 percent in November 2008, following an increase of 0.9 percent in October.
There were 88 million electronic transactions in November 2008 with a value of $4.8 billion.
| Geoff Bascand |
5 January 2009 |
Government Statistician |
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END
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