New Zealand wholesale trade sales rose in the June 2019 quarter driven by fruit exports, the county's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.
The sales value for wholesale trade rose 0.8 per cent, with the largest increase in the grocery, liquor, and tobacco industry, up 3.5 per cent.
"This industry's increase was led by bumper sales for fruit exporters. Kiwifruit exports, in particular, saw strong gains on the previous year's sales," business statistics manager Geraldine Duoba said in a statement.
Motor vehicles and motor-vehicle parts wholesaling had the largest decrease in sales value in the June 2019 quarter, down 4.1 per cent.
"The fall in motor vehicle wholesaling is reflected in the declining number of new vehicle registrations, which have been falling since early 2018," Duoba said.
The actual value of total wholesale trade sales was 28 billion NZ dollars in the June 2019 quarter, up 978 million NZ dollars, or 3.7 per cent, from the June 2018 quarter, statistics showed.
