Wellington, Jul 6 (IANS): New Zealand's strong household spending reduced saving in the March 2023 quarter, the statistics department Stats NZ said on Thursday.

New Zealand household saving fell to NZ$653 million ($404 million), an NZ$874 million decline from the December 2022 quarter's NZ$1.5 billion, Xinhua news agency quoted Stats NZ as saying.

"New Zealand households saved less, as their spending increased at a faster rate than their disposable income," Stats NZ's national accounts institutional sectors senior manager Paul Pascoe said.

Household spending increased by 3.9 per cent, driven primarily by increases in spending on services such as international travel, Pascoe said.

The household saving ratio, which compares household saving to net disposable income, fell to 1.1 per cent from 2.7 per cent in the December 2022 quarter.

Household net worth fell NZ$42.7 billion, or 1.9 per cent, in the March 2023 quarter, following falls in the previous four quarters, statistics show.