Photo: Getty ImagesChristmas Eve has been the busiest shopping day of the year with 9745 sales a minute at its peak. Payments company Worldline says noon to 1pm saw 563,303 sales recorded on its network, down by about 7% on a year ago. Official data from Stats NZ to the end of November showed a small rise in spending on the previous month, to 1.6% higher for the year. Boxing Day is traditionally the country's favourite shopping day, but with Black Friday spending also softer this year the amount going through retailers' terminals may also be down on a year ago. Adding a dampener to consumer spending may be the recent rises in longer term fixed mortgage rates because of higher wholesale rates.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 24, 2025 15:56 UTC