The total value of overall credit card transactions in New Zealand was up a seasonally adjusted 0.6 percent on month in January, Statistics New Zealand said on Wednesday.
That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.5 percent and was up from 0.4 percent in December.
Retail credit card spending added 0.3 percent to NZ$4.9 billion - in line with expectations and up from 0.1 percent in the previous month.
"Spending rose in three of the six retail industries," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said. "Hospitality and durables had the largest rises, while fuel had the biggest fall."
Core retail spending (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) rose 0.6 percent.
The largest retail movements in January were: hospitality, up NZ$10 million (1.2 percent); durables, up NZ$10 million (0.8 percent); and fuel, down NZ$12 million (2.0 percent).
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