Retailers in the Auckland region are finally starting to see a pick-up in business, after lagging behind the rest of the country for most of last year.
Latest figures released by Statistics New Zealand yesterday show sales in the Auckland Regional Council area have picked up strongly since January,increasing in April by 5.1 per cent, compared with the same month last year.
The increase is the biggest for more than 12 months, although Auckland is not yet rivalling the booming conditions that are continuing in the South Island.
In the first four months of this year, consumers are estimated to have poured an extra $120 million into Auckland's economy, compared with the same period last year. Supermarkets, food outlets and department stores have seen the biggest growth, and car sales are also up in the region.
While the South Island also had a good Easter, April was a less spectacular month elsewhere in the country. Sales in the Waikato region were flat. In Wellington, they were up by 1.6 per cent, and in the rest of the North Island, they were up by 2.6 per cent. With motor vehicle sales excluded, however, the picture was slightly more rosy for retailers.
Across the country, total sales were up by 3.9 per cent in April, compared with last April, and increased by 4.1 per cent over the 12-month period.
The result was consistent with reports of increasing consumer confidence, and had buoyed most economists, who believed it was further evidence of economic growth driven by domestic demand.
Chemists, hardware stores and motor vehicles were the only categories to show a decline in sales in April.
Although sales appeared to be down on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the fall was largely blamed on the timing of Easter this year, which meant most shoppers did their pre-Easter grocery shopping at the end of March.
