New Zealand Retail Sales Volume Climbs 1.7% In Q4

(RTTNews) - Retail sales in New Zealand advanced a seasonally adjusted 1.7 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2018, Statistics New Zealand said on Monday.

That surpassed expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent following the upwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in the three months prior (originally flat).

By value, retail sales gained NZ$432 million or 1.8 percent on quarter.

Auckland dominated regional growth, up 1.9 percent (NZ$169 million). The next largest increases by region came from Otago, up 3.9 percent (NZ$50 million), Wellington, up 1.8 percent (NZ$41 million), Canterbury, up 1.1 percent (NZ$32 million), and Waikato, up 1.2 percent (NZ$27 million). The only fall was from Taranaki down 0.1 percent (NZ$1 million).