Wholesale trade rebounds

Wholesale trade sales increased in the December 2011 quarter after declining in the September 2011 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today.

Wholesale trade sales, after adjusting for seasonal effects, rose 2.5 percent ($490 million) in the December 2011 quarter. This follows a fall of 2.7 percent ($550 million) in the September 2011 quarter.

"The overall rise was not reflected evenly across all wholesaling industries, with only two of six industries recording substantial rises," industry and labour statistics manager Blair Cardno said.

The main contributors to the December 2011 quarter sales rise were:

machinery and equipment wholesaling, up 6.6 percent ($261 million)

grocery, liquor, and tobacco product wholesaling, up 4.2 percent ($259 million).

The trend for wholesale trade sales has flattened in the last two quarters after seven quarters of growth. However, the trend remains near a historically high level.

The seasonally adjusted value of stocks was $8.9 billion at the end of December 2011, up 2.5 percent ($216 million) from the end of September 2011. 

Geoff Bascand 7 March 2012

Government Statistician