Retail spending continues to surge leading up to Christmas.

Worldline New Zealand released data today showing that electronic retail spending last week was at $881 million, up 1.9 per cent on the same week last year and 14.6 per cent from spending in 2019.

Spending for the final week before Christmas started strong with spending on December 18 reaching 12.1 per cent higher than last year.

Worldline NZ chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said consumer spending is likely to increase more in the days ahead.

Proffit said, “Spending does normally increase week-to-week in the run-up to Christmas, and while we saw an 8.3 per cent jump last week, this was around typical levels.”

He said large rises were seen at recreational goods retailers up 28.7 per cent and clothing and footwear shops up 21.9 per cent in spending.

“All this suggests spending is on track to jump around 40 per cent this week, as last-minute gift purchases and stocking up on Christmas food climbs to its usual frenzied peak on Friday and Saturday.”

Worldline showed spending in hospitality “remained strong” in the week ending December 17, adding to $254m across New Zealand, with spending on Saturday December 17 at $46m.

Overall, electronic hospitality spending was up 20.3 per cent from the same week last year, rising 4.2 per cent from 2019.

 “While spending amongst the hospitality sector is expected to remain at high levels in the last few days ahead of Christmas, it is likely that last Saturday marked the peak day this year for wining and dining,” Proffit said.

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Regional hospitality spending for the week was highest in the West Coast, up 46.8 per cent from the same week last year coming in at $1.9m.

Regional retail spending was highest in Marlborough, up 10.6 per cent from last year, while West Coast (up 10.5 per cent) and Otago (up 8.7 per cent) followed.

Spending dropped for the same period in Auckland and Northland, Gisborne, all down 0.8 per cent and Bay of Plenty (down 2.5 per cent).