B.C. and Ontario led the nation in consumer spending in the fourth quarter of 2016.
And, more of us are pulling our plastic to make those purchases, which are increasingly on luxury items.
Spending grew by 4.19 per cent nationally, according to debit and credit processor Moneris.
Ontario saw a 6.24 per cent increase, and B.C. 5.87 per cent.
Year over year, British Columbians spent 2.98 per cent more on alcohol, 9.29 per cent more on household purchases, 9.72 per cent more on hotels, and 6.18 per cent more on restaurants.
Grocery spending edged up by 1.74 per cent.
“We observed increases in consumer spending throughout every quarter of 2016, but that growth declined slowly and steadily over the course of the year,” said Moneris CEO Angela Brown. “As we enter 2017, we expect a trend of modest growth to continue as Canadian policy-makers react to a changing global landscape and broader challenges present in the Canadian economy.”
Spending was more heavily weighted toward credit cards, which increased by 5.68 per cent, representing 63.8 per cent of transactions. Spending on debit cards rose by 1.67 per cent, representing 36.2 per cent of transactions.
Black Friday continued to gain momentum in Canada, with consumer spending up 5.91 per cent over 2015. By contrast, Boxing Day shopping was down 4.58 per cent, suggesting Canadians are changing their holiday shopping patterns.
For the fourth year in a row, Dec. 23 was Canada’s busiest shopping day of the year with an increase of 11.32 per cent in the number of transactions, followed by Black Friday and Boxing Day. However, Black Friday was the biggest in terms of overall sales volumes.
Tap-and-pay is seeing a rapid growth in popularity, with a 120.73 per cent increase in dollar volume and a 73.74 per cent increase in transactions in the fourth quarter.
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