By Business & Finance 
The figure showed an annual increase in December of 4.9%, according to Visa’s Consumer Spending Index.
This index takes in all payment types across cash, electronic and cheque.
Last November saw an annual rise of 5.1%, which now equates to ten successive months on the rise in 2017.
Expenditure via face-to-face transactions was up 5.3% year-on-year marking a rise in this figure for the last four months.
The strongest growth was the sale of household goods in December (+12.2% year-on-year), which saw double-digital expansion for four months out of five.
Other areas that saw sharp increases were expenditure in hotel, restaurants and bar and spending in transport and communication. Health and education saw a decrease (-0.6% year-on-year).
