Whanganui credit and debit card transactions in January were 6.4 per cent higher than the same month last year, according to new Paymark data.
The national increase was 6.1 per cent over the same period.
Spending growth in Whanganui over the past year was higher than Auckland/Northland, Wellington, Canterbury, Taranaki and Waikato.
Local business confidence is strong, according to Whanganui Chamber of Commerce
president Raewyn Overton-Stuart.
"There's a lot of potential development here," she said.