Festive season spending surpasses R90bn as restrictions eased
The peak festive season spending made a slight comeback as sales over this past December period beat the previous year's levels to reach R93 billion.
This is the equivalent of a 35% annual improvement, according to BankservAfrica's Point-of-Sales data of the transactions processed.
Head of Customer Relations at BankservAfrica Solly Bellingan says the volume of transactions totalled R121 billion, a 10% growth on the 110 billion reported in December 2020.
The highest value of spending occurred at supermarkets and grocery stores with R18 billion spent during the period,
This was followed by service stations at R6 billion and clothing stores at R3 billion.
The volumes were the highest at eating places and restaurants, which reflected year-on-year growth of 26% and a total value of R2 billion sales.
"These figures are unlike December 2020, where stricter lockdown levels from alert level 2 to alert level 3 on 29 December 2020 prohibited restaurants, bars and shops from selling alcohol and operated under curfew times.”
The relaxed level in December 2021 may have been the reason for the stronger spending in the days after Christmas and the days leading to New Year.
According to Bellingan, New Year's Eve spending reached R2 billion.
"This was 41% higher than 31 December 2020. The 2021 volumes were at 4 480 654 or 32% higher than the previous year," Bellingan added.
The amount of cash circulating in the country was also high in December 2021.
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