Hawke's Bay Paymark spending keeps rising

Hawke's Bay Paymark retail spending figures continue to grow. Photo/File

Hawke's Bay is again in the vanguard for spending growth through the Paymark system, recording the second-highest increase in March as well as the March quarter.

In March Hawke's Bay recorded 10.8 per cent growth over the same month last year , behind Palmerston North on 11.1 per cent. The national average was 7.4 per cent growth.

For the March quarter Hawke's Bay recorded 8.1 per cent growth behind the Bay of Plenty on 8.5 per cent growth. The national average was 5.7 per cent growth.

Paymark said regional New Zealand led spending growth over the past quarter - underlying spending growth was highest outside of the major centres, moderate in the major centres and low in the top half of the South Island.

Travellers increased spending with hospitality merchants such as hotels, camps, cafes and bars by 9.9 per cent between the March quarters of 2016 and 2017.

Hospitality growth rates were high in Southland, Hawke's Bay, Auckland/Northland, West Coast, Otago and Waikato. Notably,hospitality spending growth rates were low in the regions surrounding the earthquake-affected zones - in Marlborough, Canterbury and South Canterbury.

Hawke's Bay, Bay of Plenty and Nelson benefited from both strong growth amongst hospitality and non-hospitality merchants.

Hawke's Bay topped the country for the previous three months. Paymark figures for February showed Hawke's Bay enjoyed an 8.4 per cent increase in the value of spending compared with the same period last year, with the number of transactions increasing 7.8 per cent.

Following Hawke's Bay was Palmerston North with a 6.5 per cent increase in value, Bay of Plenty on 6.2 per cent and Otago on 4.2 per cent.

In January Hawke's Bay enjoyed an 11.1 per cent increase in value from the same period last year, with the number of transactions increasing 12.2 per cent. December spending was up 10.9 per cent on December 2015.

For the latest March quarter the number of Hawke's Bay transactions rose 9.4 per cent.