Consumer spending continued the roller coaster ride, driving -0.4% down this month when compared to the same month last year.
Despite Black Friday, one of the strongest, if not the strongest retail event of the year taking place this month, and with sales starting well before the last Thursday of November, it was a surge in essentials that drove spend in November.
Like last month, the only spend increases were in Groceries & Liquor (+3.8%) and Fuel & Automotive (+0.9%). The typical stuff on sale over Black Friday like apparel, gadgets and appliances, were all down a combined -4.4%.
Spend was again driven by International cardholders (+11.9%), primarily those from the USA (+23.9%), China (+21.0%), and India (+10.9%).
Conversely, New Zealand cardholders dropped spend by -1.1%.
Cardholders from Tasman drove spend with a whopping 9.0% increase from the same month last year. However, at only 1% share of domestic spend, it’s not enough to offset the drag of Wellingtonians with their -2.7% drop which is influential at 10% of New Zealand spend.
Key insights for November 2025
- Consumer Spending dropped -0.4% in November 2025 when compared to November 2024.
- Transactions dropped more, down -1.8%, which shows a continued attempt to curb spend.
- Groceries & Liquor and Fuel & Automotive saw the only growth this month, up +3.8% and +0.9% respectively.
- Internationals increased spend by +11.9%. Key markets of growth include USA (+23.9%), China (+21.0%) and India (+10.9%).
- Domestics dropped spend by -1.1%. Of note are Tasman cardholders who drove spend by +9.0% and Wellingtonians who dropped spend by -2.7%.
- A storetype breakdown is detailed in the table below:
