Stats NZ

Retail trade survey: September 2021 quarter

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.

24 May 2022: In March 2022 we identified an error that occurred when revising the retail sales volumes in the June 2021 quarter publication. Corrections to the March 2020, June 2020, and September 2020 quarter results have now been included in the March 2022 quarter release.

Key facts

All figures are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified.

For the September 2021 quarter compared with June 2021 quarter:

  • the total volume of retail sales fell 8.1 percent
  • the total value of retail sales (with price effects included) fell 7.0 percent ($2.0 billion)
  • 12 of the 16 regions showed lower sales values.
Created with Highcharts 5.0.14$Total retail trade sales ($), volumes, quarterly, September 2016–September 2021ActualSeasonally adjustedSep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-2118B20B22B24B26B28B30BStats NZ

Total retail trade sales ($), volumes, quarterly, September 2016–September 2021

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14$Total retail trade sales ($), volumes, quarterly, September 2016–September 2021ActualSeasonally adjustedSep-16Dec-16Mar-17Jun-17Sep-17Dec-17Mar-18Jun-18Sep-18Dec-18Mar-19Jun-19Sep-19Dec-19Mar-20Jun-20Sep-20Dec-20Mar-21Jun-21Sep-2117.5B20B22.5B25B27.5B30BStats NZ
CategoryActual Seasonally adjusted
Sep-1620,679,650,49121,600,345,520
Dec-1623,697,125,55121,858,033,820
Mar-1721,930,375,07322,235,533,110
Jun-1721,856,747,16222,542,697,940
Sep-1721,634,738,86622,698,602,900
Dec-1724,984,612,69322,968,917,660
Mar-1822,552,229,27422,993,223,040
Jun-1822,534,191,71523,190,395,820
Sep-1822,219,691,69023,261,137,810
Dec-1825,855,442,60023,663,297,420
Mar-1923,307,558,86023,903,222,720
Jun-1923,185,488,66023,808,595,890
Sep-1923,220,654,14024,243,362,420
Dec-1926,709,077,70024,461,085,720
Mar-2023,845,114,49024,189,225,270
Jun-2019,893,891,59020,423,436,410
Sep-2025,096,068,22026,219,396,250
Dec-2027,977,684,08025,626,853,670
Mar-2125,426,653,99026,210,277,420
Jun-2126,511,665,00027,072,269,280
Sep-2123,802,706,77024,886,170,800

Sales volumes down in September

Twelve of the 15 industries had lower sales volumes in the September 2021 quarter compared with the June 2021 quarter.

By industry, the largest movements were:

  • food and beverage services – down 19 percent
  • motor vehicle and parts retailing – down 12 percent
  • department stores – down 24 percent
  • hardware, building, and garden supplies – down 15 percent.

Supermarket and grocery stores had the biggest rise, up 7.5 percent, followed by non-store and commission-based retailing, up 2.5 percent.

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Industry (ANZSIC06)$Seasonally adjusted retail sales volumes by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarterSupermarket and grocery storesNon-store and commission-based retailingElectrical and electronic goods retailingPharmaceutical and other store-based retailingSpecialised food retailingRecreational goods retailingLiquor retailingAccommodationClothing, footwear, and personal accessoriesFurniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goodsFuel retailingHardware, building, and garden suppliesDepartment storesMotor vehicle and parts retailingFood and beverage services-550M-500M-450M-400M-350M-300M-250M-200M-150M-100M-50M050M100M150M200M250M300M350M4…400MStats NZ

Seasonally adjusted retail sales volumes by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarter

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14$Seasonally adjusted retail sales volumes by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarter$Supermarket and grocery storesNon-store and commission-based retailingElectrical and electronic goods retailingPharmaceutical and other store-based retailingSpecialised food retailingRecreational goods retailingLiquor retailingAccommodationClothing, footwear, and personal accessoriesFurniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goodsFuel retailingHardware, building, and garden suppliesDepartment storesMotor vehicle and parts retailingFood and beverage services-550M-500M-450M-400M-350M-300M-250M-200M-150M-100M-50M050M100M150M200M250M300M350M4…400MStats NZ
Industry (ANZSIC06)$
Supermarket and grocery stores 360,694,247
Non-store and commission-based retailing14,428,940
Electrical and electronic goods retailing9,929,010
Pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing-16,983,529
Specialised food retailing-18,724,233
Recreational goods retailing-25,264,553
Liquor retailing-59,568,698
Accommodation-107,452,813
Clothing, footwear, and personal accessories-120,310,234
Furniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goods-147,710,166
Fuel retailing-285,521,434
Hardware, building, and garden supplies-364,424,866
Department stores-457,409,279
Motor vehicle and parts retailing-464,915,295
Food and beverage services-502,865,579

Sales values down in September

Thirteen of the 15 industries had lower sales values in the September 2021 quarter compared with the June 2021 quarter.

With price effects included, the main movements by industry were:

  • food and beverage services – down 19 percent ($626 million)
  • motor vehicle and parts retailing – down 12 percent ($490 million)
  • hardware, building, and garden supplies – down 14 percent ($389 million)
  • department stores – down 23 percent ($363 million).

Supermarket and grocery stores had the biggest rise, up 10 percent ($566 million), followed by non-store and commission-based retailing, up 4.2 percent ($23 million).

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14Industry (ANZSIC06)$Seasonally adjusted retail sales values by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarterSupermarket and grocery storesNon-store and commission-based retailingElectrical and electronic goods retailingSpecialised food retailingRecreational goods retailingPharmaceutical and other store-based retailingLiquor retailingAccommodationClothing, footwear, and personal accessoriesFurniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goodsFuel retailingDepartment storesHardware, building, and garden suppliesMotor vehicle and parts retailingFood and beverage services-600M-500M-400M-300M-200M-100M0100M200M300M400M500M600M-700MStats NZ

Seasonally adjusted retail sales values by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarter

Created with Highcharts 5.0.14$Seasonally adjusted retail sales values by industry, change from June 2021 quarter to September 2021 quarter$Supermarket and grocery storesNon-store and commission-based retailingElectrical and electronic goods retailingSpecialised food retailingRecreational goods retailingPharmaceutical and other store-based retailingLiquor retailingAccommodationClothing, footwear, and personal accessoriesFurniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goodsFuel retailingDepartment storesHardware, building, and garden suppliesMotor vehicle and parts retailingFood and beverage services-600M-500M-400M-300M-200M-100M0100M200M300M400M500M600M-700MStats NZ
Industry (ANZSIC06)$
Supermarket and grocery stores 565,929,558
Non-store and commission-based retailing23,244,676
Electrical and electronic goods retailing-7,390,338
Specialised food retailing-10,639,386
Recreational goods retailing-15,717,452
Pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing-23,425,800
Liquor retailing-62,696,486
Accommodation-117,750,678
Clothing, footwear, and personal accessories-118,907,423
Furniture, floor coverings, houseware, and textile goods-154,775,873
Fuel retailing-179,044,548
Department stores-363,487,689
Hardware, building, and garden supplies-389,164,067
Motor vehicle and parts retailing-489,805,805
Food and beverage services-625,543,848

Regional sales values down in September

Twelve of the 16 regions showed lower sales values in the September 2021 quarter compared with the June 2021 quarter.

By region, the largest changes in sales values were in:

  • Auckland – down 15 percent ($1.5 billion)
  • Waikato – down 3.3 percent ($87 million)
  • Wellington – down 2.1 percent ($55 million)
  • Canterbury – down 1.5 percent ($54 million)
  • Bay of Plenty – down 2.1 percent ($37 million).

Tasman had the largest rise, up 3.3 percent ($8.4 million), followed by Gisborne, up 1.9 percent ($4.1 million).

Stock values up

Stock figures were recorded at 30 September 2021. All references to stocks are in actual dollars.

The total value of stock held at 30 September 2021 was $9.0 billion, up $994 million (12 percent), compared with September 2020.

The largest increase came from motor vehicle and parts retailing, up 29 percent ($472 million), followed by hardware, building, and garden supplies, up 18 percent ($210 million).

We adjusted the stock modelling series for three industries in the September 2021 quarter. One of our methods for modelling stocks values relies, in part, on sales values for the quarter, which we decided was not suitable for the COVID-19-impacted September 2021 quarter.

The adjustments affected the following series:

  • specialised food stocks – RTTQ.SFB9CA
  • liquor stocks – RTTQ.SFC9CA
  • food and beverage stocks – RTTQ.SFV9CA
  • core industries stocks – RTTQ.SF19CA
  • total industries stocks – RTTQ.SF99CA.

Retail trade survey deflators

Retail trade survey deflators in table 12 of ‘Retail trade survey: September 2021 quarter’ Excel tables (see Download data) measure the change in the prices of goods and services sold by businesses in the 15 retail industries. We can explain movements in actual retail sales values by changes in price, and by changes in volume. 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). The CPI indexes and other indicators in each deflator’s basket represent the goods and services sold by the industry. Each good or service is weighted to reflect the relative importance of the mix of goods and services sold by the industry.

All updated weights are available in ‘Retail trade survey deflator weights, by industry, at June 2021 quarter’ under Download data.

Retail trade survey deflator weights has tables from June 2010 to now.

Trend series unavailable due to COVID-19

It is not possible to estimate current trend levels to Stats NZ’s usual quality standard until we know the full effect of COVID-19 on the time series. Once the series stabilises, we will estimate the COVID-19 effects. The timeframe for this will vary for different series, depending on how they have been affected by COVID-19.

Seasonally adjusted quality note

We are confident in the seasonally adjusted movements of all retail industries, regions, core, and total retail series.

The accommodation industry’s actual sales data has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, and the seasonal adjustment patterns may continue to reflect some variance. It is likely to be some time before the seasonal pattern for accommodation becomes stable and consistent.

Please use caution when making economic inferences from the accommodation industry.

Changes to the modelling of tax data due to Auckland’s COVID-19 restrictions

During the September 2021 quarter, alert level 4 and 3 restrictions were placed on the Auckland region due to an outbreak of COVID-19. The rest of New Zealand was also placed under level 4 restrictions but moved to level 3 after two weeks of being at alert level 4.

We changed our GST modelling to account for this significant regional variation. In addition to our normal approach of estimating industry-based factors, we also split Auckland and non-Auckland businesses in our modelling. This allowed businesses that experienced the level 4 and 3 trading restrictions in Auckland to be estimated from businesses that also faced a similar trading environment.

Key travel restrictions and COVID-19 alert system timeline – September quarters

  • 11 August 2020: four cases of COVID-19 are recorded in the community.
  • 12 August 2020: Auckland region moves to alert level 3. The rest of New Zealand moves to alert level 2.
  • 14 August 2020: The Prime Minister announces that Auckland will remain at alert level 3 and the rest of New Zealand will remain at alert level 2 for 12 more days.
  • 30 August 2020: Auckland moves to alert level 2, with extra restrictions on travel and gatherings. The rest of New Zealand remains at alert level 2.
  • 21 September 2020: All regions except Auckland move to alert level 1.
  • 23 September 2020: Auckland moves to alert level 2 without extra restrictions on travel and gatherings.
  • 17 August 2021: All of New Zealand moves to alert level 4.
  • 31 August 2021: All of New Zealand south of Auckland moves to alert level 3. Auckland and Northland remain at alert level 4.
  • 2 September 2021: Northland moves to alert level 3. All of New Zealand (except Auckland) is now at alert level 3. Auckland remains at alert level 4.
  • 7 September 2021: New Zealand (except Auckland) moves to alert level 2.
  • 21 September 2021: Auckland and Upper Hauraki move to alert level 3. Rest of New Zealand remains at alert level 2.
  • 25 September 2021: Upper Hauraki moves to alert level 2. Auckland remains at alert level 3. The rest of New Zealand remains at alert level 2.

See History of the COVID-19 Alert System for more information on restrictions and COVID-19 alert changes.

More data

Use Infoshare for retail trade tables:

Subject category: Industry sectors
Group: Retail trade (ANZSIC06) – RTT

ISSN 1178-0355

Next release

Retail trade survey: December 2021 quarter will be released on 25 February 2022.

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