The retail trade survey measures the sales and stock of businesses that provide household and personal goods and services – for example car yards, petrol stations, supermarkets, cafes and restaurants, and hotels.
Key facts
For the September 2024 quarter compared with the June 2024 quarter, unless otherwise stated:
- total volume of seasonally adjusted retail sales was $24 billion, down 0.1 percent
- total value of seasonally adjusted retail sales was $30 billion, down 0.7 percent ($209 million)
- 15 of the 16 regions had lower seasonally adjusted sales values
- total value of actual retail sales was $28 billion, down 2.8 percent ($829 million), compared with the September 2023 quarter
- total value of actual stock as at 30 September 2024 was $9.4 billion, down 1.9 percent ($177 million) compared with 30 September 2023.
Actual values are in current prices and not adjusted for inflation or price effects. Seasonally adjusted values have had typical seasonal patterns removed. Volumes have had price changes removed and are expressed in September 2010 quarter prices.
| “Quarter” | “Actual “ | “Seasonally adjusted” | “Trend” |
| “Sep-2019” | “23220654000” | “24304432000” | “24266902000” |
| “Dec-2019” | “26709078000” | “24420785000” | “24386621000” |
| “Mar-2020” | “23853477000” | “24344168000” | “24517741000” |
| “Jun-2020” | “19925762000” | “20481652000” | “24536532000” |
| “Sep-2020” | “25092233000” | “26120547000” | “25333237000” |
| “Dec-2020” | “27977684000” | “25662184000” | “25686555000” |
| “Mar-2021” | “25426654000” | “26134777000” | “26287559000” |
| “Jun-2021” | “26511665000” | “27185912000” | “26560668000” |
| “Sep-2021” | “23802707000” | “24722587000” | “26736249000” |
| “Dec-2021” | “29199341000” | “26827836000” | “26768842000” |
| “Mar-2022” | “26007411000” | “26704470000” | “26938518000” |
| “Jun-2022” | “25535164000” | “26208939000” | “26635946000” |
| “Sep-2022” | “24969369000” | “25939308000” | “25814870000” |
| “Dec-2022” | “28026047000” | “25715561000” | “25658138000” |
| “Mar-2023” | “24939197000” | “25458002000” | “25466356000” |
| “Jun-2023” | “24630447000” | “25375241000” | “25341316000” |
| “Sep-2023” | “24113270000” | “25122947000” | “25079767000” |
| “Dec-2023” | “26874739000” | “24680414000” | “24828346000” |
| “Mar-2024” | “24335951000” | “24799112000” | “24685592000” |
| “Jun-2024” | “23742966000” | “24492969000” | “24569045000” |
| “Sep-2024” | “23518661000” | “24467438000” | “24415927000” |
Sales volumes down in September
Ten of the 15 industries had lower seasonally adjusted sales volumes in the September 2024 quarter compared with the June 2024 quarter.
By industry, the largest movements were:
- motor vehicle and parts retailing – up 4.3 percent
- electrical and electronic goods retailing – up 4.6 percent
- supermarket and grocery stores – down 1.3 percent
- food and beverage services – down 2.1 percent
- department stores – down 2.5 percent.
| “Industry” | “Volume” | “Value” |
| “Motor vehicle and parts retailing” | “145440000” | ” 124438000″ |
| “Electrical and electronic goods retailing” | ” 91552000″ | ” 19411000″ |
| “Non-store and commission-based retailing” | ” 13571000″ | ” 19218000″ |
| “Hardware | ” 4775000″ | ” 5206000″ |
| building | ” 3214000″ | ” 6439000″ |
| and garden supplies” | ” -5971000″ | ” -11253000″ |
| “Liquor retailing” | “-11385000” | ” -10389000″ |
| “Specialised food retailing” | “-14027000” | ” -20195000″ |
| “Furniture | “-18192000” | “-150064000” |
| floor coverings | “-20600000” | ” -22270000″ |
| houseware | “-21668000” | ” -22867000″ |
| and textile goods” | “-29038000” | ” -40369000″ |
| “Clothing | “-47168000” | ” -25433000″ |
| footwear | “-53451000” | ” -74596000″ |
| and personal accessories” | “-62582000” | ” -5804000″ |
| “Fuel retailing” | ||
| “Pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing” | ||
| “Recreational goods retailing” | ||
| “Accommodation” | ||
| “Department stores” | ||
| “Food and beverage services” | ||
| “Supermarket and grocery stores” |
Sales values down in September
Ten of the 15 industries had lower seasonally adjusted sales values in the September 2024 quarter compared with the June 2024 quarter.
With price effects included, the largest industry movements were:
- fuel retailing – down 6.1 percent ($150 million)
- motor vehicle and parts retailing – up 3.3 percent ($124 million)
- food and beverage services – down 1.9 percent ($75 million)
- accommodation – down 3.1 percent ($40 million)
- department stores – down 1.5 percent ($25 million).
Regional sales values
Fifteen of the 16 regions had lower seasonally adjusted sales values in the September 2024 quarter compared with the June 2024 quarter.
By region, the largest movements were:
- Auckland – down 0.9 percent ($103 million)
- Wellington – down 1.3 percent ($35 million)
- Canterbury – down 0.8 percent ($30 million)
- Waikato – down 1.0 percent ($27 million)
- Manawatū-Whanganui – down 2.0 percent ($25 million).
More regional figures are in tables 7, 8, and 9 of the Excel workbook ‘Retail trade survey: September 2024 quarter’, under Download data.
Stock values down
Stock figures were recorded as at 30 September 2024. All references to stocks are in actual dollars.
The total value of stock held at 30 September 2024 was $9.4 billion, down 1.9 percent ($177 million) compared with 30 September 2023.
By industry, the largest movements were:
- motor vehicle and parts retailing – down 5.0 percent ($109 million)
- hardware, building, and garden supplies – down 3.4 percent ($50 million).
Updated retail trade survey deflators
We did our annual update to the retail trade sales deflator weights this quarter. Each good or service in the retail trade deflators is weighted to reflect the relative mix of goods and services sold in the 15 retail industries. The deflators are used to remove the effect of price change, which allows change in the volume of retail sales to be estimated.
The deflator for each industry consists of a ‘basket’ of indexes, drawn mainly from the consumers price index (CPI).
Updated weights information is available in ‘Retail trade survey deflator weights, by industry, at June 2024 quarter’ under .
Retail trade survey deflator weights has all the deflator weights from June 2010 to June 2024.
Table 12 of ‘Retail trade survey: September 2024 quarter’ under Download data has the sales deflators, rather than the weights.
More data
Use Infoshare for retail trade tables:
Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Retail trade (ANZSIC06) – RTT
Definitions and metadata
Retail trade survey data collection methodology – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce retail trade survey statistics.
Retail trade survey definitions – DataInfo+ gives the definitions of terms and concepts used in this release.
Technical enquiries
Rudy Rupp
04 931 4600
[email protected]
ISSN 1178-0355
Next release
Retail trade survey: December 2024 quarter will be released on 24 February 2025.
