Spending through Paymark among the food and beverage services group reached $743.6 million, down 5.4% or $42m on June last year.
Accommodation merchants faced a steeper decline, with spending falling 20.1% in underlying terms to $53.5m.
Merchants in hospitality and retail weren’t alone, with spending from core retail groups such as clothing/footwear and recreational goods falling compared with June 2025.
It was a similar story in the non-retail sector, with spending for the month through Paymark’s network at fitness centres and gyms down 23.7% (down 14.3% for the year ending June).
Spending at beauty and hairdressing salons was also down, falling 1.8%, while movie theatre spending was down 4.9%.
On a regional basis, annual growth rates for core retail spending in June 2026 were highest in Waikato, up 1.4%, Hawke’s Bay, up 1.2% and the West Coast, up 0.9%.
Proffit said continued spending growth in the Waikato region, as seen in recent months, was more of a “mixed bag” in June.
“The largest contribution to spending growth in the Waikato in June was higher spending at food and liquor shops, resulting from more transactions. However, there was also a smaller increase during the week ending Sunday June 14, which included Fieldays.”
He said that during the week of Fieldays about $1m more spending was recorded, spread over hardware/furniture and food service merchants.
“Apart from those sectors, there were spending declines reported over the month for most non-food merchant groups in Waikato.”
The largest spending declines in June were recorded in Marlborough, down 6.2%, Bay of Plenty, down 3.2%, and Wairarapa, down 2.7%.
In the major centres, spending was mixed, with spending falling in Auckland/Northland by 0.4%, Wellington down by 1.6%, while Canterbury reported annual spending growth of 0.2%.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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