Statistics NZ has revealed the value of electronic card transactions were down by 0.5%, in the last month.

The transaction value dropped in five businesses, whereas the fuel retailing was the only one that witnessed an upward trend.

After experiencing step up in June and July, Core retail dropped by 1% last month. All the core industry groups except motor vehicle-related manufacturers experienced a drop. Durables plunged by 2.4% and experienced maximum fall.

Fuel transactions witnessed 1.6% increase in August, which was a relief as it was facing a downward trend since May.

Since January 2009, the value of transactions in the retailing has been facing increase but has become compressed from a few months. The core retail was facing increase since October 2002 but its success has been halted after April 2011.

The brief detail about the alterations in the value of transactions after July 2011 are as follow: total electronic card transactions low by 0.5%, transactions in the core retail industries low by 1.0%, transactions in the retail industries low by 0.7%. In addition, the durable industry faced the highest decline.

Paymark Sales and Marketing Head Paul Whiston stated that the downward trend was actually witnessed in the last two months and all the sectors were affected.