Worldline NZ says February spending rose, led by Auckland/Northland’s biggest annual lift in nearly two years.

Figures released on Tuesday show consumer spending through Core Retail merchants in Worldline NZ’s payments network reached $3.686B in February 2026.

That was up 2.2% on February 2025, after adjustments for merchants coming and going from the network.

The Auckland/Northland region recorded a 2.8% lift in spending compared with February last year.

Worldline NZ Chief Sales Officer Bruce Proffit said, “While the annual growth rate is relatively low and spending did not increase across all sectors and regions, it’s still heartening to see that total spending is up at this point of the year, and, most notably, up in New Zealand’s largest region,” he said.

Proffit said spending in Auckland/Northland and Wellington declined in February last year, down 0.5% and 1.8% respectively.

He said Wellington spending is still below year-ago levels, while Waikato remains one of the fastest growth regions and has now exceeded Wellington’s spending level for the third month in a row.

Annual Core Retail spending growth in February 2026 was highest in Palmerston North at 4.5%, Otago at 3.8% and Waikato at 3.7%.

The biggest percentage declines were in Wairarapa at minus 2.3% and Gisborne at minus 1.7%.

Spending on flowers and jewellery rose in the days before and including Valentine’s Day, but was down on last year.

Worldline NZ said wet weather was likely a factor, with total spending through florist and watch or jewellery merchants at $4.8m over the two days ending Saturday, February 14, down 14.5% on the same two days in 2025.

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