UK Christmas Spending Up On 2008

After the difficult financial year, a last-minute surge of spending on the days before Christmas saw spending pass the figure of 2008.

Consumer spending during the final fortnight of December was 2.4% higher than in the same period of 2008, according to card processing firm Barclaycard Payment Acceptance.

The group, which processes credit and debit card transactions for 88,000 UK retailers, said consumers spent £4.09bn on their cards between 19 and 31 December, up from £3.99bn on 2008. The busiest day was 23 December, when £497m was spent on last-minute Christmas shopping.

As well as the rush to buy Christmas presents there has also been a rush of purchases by people aiming to miss the return to the 17.5% VAT rate at the turn of the year.