The FINANCIAL — New Zealand’s retail spending rose more than expected in the first quarter, driven by sales of electrical and electronic goods retailing, Statistics New Zealand said in a statement, according to Nasdaq.
The volume of real retail sales in the first quarter rose 2.7% on the prior quarter. When the effect of price changes is included, adjusted retail sales rose 1.7% in the first quarter, according to Statistics New Zealand on May 14. The median forecasts in a Wall Street Journal poll of 10 economists was for rises of 1.6% and 1.0%, respectively.
On an annual basis, total retail sales volumes rose 7.4% in the first quarter on year.
“This is the largest volume increase in dollar terms since this series began just over a decade ago,” says Tehseen Islam, acting business indicators manager at Statistics New Zealand, said.
“Electrical and electronics stores had a really strong quarter. Our discussions with retailers suggest that there’s no one thing in particularly behind this, but there may be a strengthening back-to-school effect,” Mr. Islam said. “This seems to mean that spending on things like laptops and tablets is having an impact on overall spending at the start of the school year.”
Volumes of electrical and electronic goods retailing, which includes the likes of computers, tablets and ovens, were up 8.9%.
Statistics New Zealand added that looking at the longer-term picture, the trends for both total retail sales volumes and values have generally been rising since mid-2009.