In the first week of the Christmas season, Portuguese people spent €592 million in bank card purchases, reports Correio da Manhã. That’s €40 million more than they spent the same time last year.
The flurry of pre-Christmas purchasing can be seen at ATMs throughout the country. The newspaper reports that debit cards have been used 14.8 million times, as opposed to 13.7 million in 2012.
Cash withdrawals too are up, says the paper. “This year, Portuguese people have taken €561 million from ATMs, when a year ago the figure stood at €550 million.”
According to SIBS, which runs the Multibanco network, families have been taking an average of €65 out per day – while their shopping spend has accounted for around €40 every day.
And these are just the figures for the first week of purchasing: November 26 to December.
