Kiwis spending more on Christmas shopping this year

New Zealanders spent a record $6 billion shopping in December. Photo / Thinkstock

December spending for the year continues to rise as Kiwis shop up a storm before Christmas.

The latest figures from electronic payments company Paymark showed a total of $2.6 billion was spent in the first two weeks of December, up 6.1 per cent on last year.

Spending accelerated in the second week of the month, up 6.7 per cent compared with the first week which was up just 5.4 per cent.

"Annual growth rates for the first 14 days were strongest in Hawke's Bay and West Coast," Paymark said.

"Spending growth was lowest in Gisborne and Marlborough region, which includes Kaikoura, both due to exceptional circumstances."

Spending in the Hawke's Bay was up 10.4 per cent for the two weeks, while spending in Gisborne declined 1.2 per cent - the only region which did not experience growth over the period.

Spending remained highest in Auckland with $1.09b spent over the two weeks.

Data from the company also showed a clear trend in payments with spending at its peak between midday and 1pm each day before tapering off.

Spending usually began around 6am and continued until midnight.

"The busiest hour of the last week was noon to 1pm Friday 9 December when 484,135 transactions occurred in the hour," Paymark said.

"The noticeable exceptions to the daily pattern is Friday night, Saturday morning and again Saturday night, Sunday morning when the hospitality sector is busy."

The majority of spending, 52 per cent, was through debit cards although growth was faster on credit cards which also included contactless cards.