Consumers set to spend record £47 billion this Christmas

Despite household budgets being squeezed throughout 2011, shoppers are expected to loosen the purse-strings and splash out in favour of festive cheer this Christmas.

Figures from Barclays predict that a record £46.9 billion will be spent during December, that's £17,540 per second and a four per cent increase from December 2010.

The research shows that consumers will hit the high street and use their debit cards for the bulk of their shopping, with a record £28.6 billion expected to be spent on cards during December. Supermarket tills will be ringing the most with them likely to pocket £6 billion, whilst £1.5 billion is predicted to be spent at petrol stations and £849 million at department stores. Online shopping accounts for over a quarter of this debit card spend.

A total of £18.3 billion of cash is expected to be withdrawn from the UK's ATMs and banks throughout December. The busiest days for spending are predicted to be Friday 23rd December for debit cards when Barclays expects over £1.4 billion will be spent and ATMs on Saturday 24th December with £774 million being dispensed. The peak time for ATMs is forecast to be between 11am - 12pm, that's £24,890 being withdrawn every second.

The top cities for spending in the UK are predicted to be London which should attract over £5 billion of spending throughout December, followed by Greater Manchester at just under £2 billion, Birmingham with £1 billion, then Sheffield and Newcastle upon Tyne with spend of over £820 million.

Dan Wass, Director of Current Accounts at Barclays said: "It's been a difficult year for consumers whose household budgets have been squeezed to cope with rising costs, but we are expecting shoppers to shun the doom and gloom and spend record levels as retailers make massive reductions to entice them in.

"Whether you have a Christmas spending strategy or are more of an impulse festive shopper in search of a bargain, using a debit card is the easiest way to get your Christmas shopping done quickly and securely. We urge shoppers to stay safe in busy areas and encourage them to use their debit cards rather than carrying large amounts of cash. We would remind them to be careful to take care of their card and their PIN during the busy festive period."

From more information on Barclays go to barclays.co.uk.