New Zealand’s third-quarter spending on credit and debit cards rose at the slowest pace in two years as high interest rates and rising prices weighed on households.

Electronic card spending advanced just 0.2% from the second quarter, Statistics New Zealand said Friday in Wellington. That’s the weakest since the third quarter of 2021, when the nation’s largest city Auckland was in a Covid-related lockdown and spending plunged 12%.

Up Next

New Zealand Card Spending Eases to Slowest Pace in Two Years