Card spending fell across all retail industries, including consumables, durables, apparel, fuel and motor vehicles, as well as the non-retail excluding services category, Stats NZ said.
Services was the only industry that saw an increase, rising 1.4 million NZ dollars (860,000 U.S. dollars), or 0.4 percent, compared with April 2023, it said.
The largest contributor to the fall in retail card spending was fuel, down 4.5 percent, followed by apparel, down 3.7 percent, Stats NZ said.
The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories, decreased by 174 million NZ dollars (106.46 million U.S. dollars), or 1.9 percent, in May 2023, statistics show.
"This is the first time since December 2022 that only one industry saw a rise in spending, and the first time since February this year that total card spending fell," business performance manager Ricky Ho said.
Electronic card transaction data covers the use of credit and debit cards in shops and online, and includes both the retail and services industries, according to Stats NZ.
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