Retail spending using electronic cards experienced increased growth within the month of March 2015, with Statistics New Zealand revealing an increase of $167 million to $4.7 billion, up 3.7% from March 2014.

The organisation says card spending rose in all retailer industries except for fuel.

When adjusted for seasonal effects, retail spending was up 0.8% in March 2015 compared with February 2015. This rise follows a 1.1% rise in February.

"After removing seasonal effects, spending rose in four of the six retail industries," business indicators manager Neil Kelly says. "The largest increase came from the consumables industry."

Core retail spending (which excludes the vehicle-related industries) rose 0.8% in March 2015, following a 1.2% rise in February 2015.

The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail industries (services and other non-retail), rose 1.3%. This rise follows a 0.4% rise in February 2015.

Statistics NZ says trends for the total, retail, and core retail series have generally been rising since these series began in October 2002.

This data is not adjusted for price changes and is available only at the national level.