The total amount spent on debit and credit cards as well as ATM withdrawals rose by 2% in December to reach €8.4 billion, new Central Bank figures show.
This is the highest spend since the Central Bank began compiling monthly card data in January 2015.
Compared to December 2020, the figure is €632m, or 8%, higher.
Spending on retail goods rose by 8% compared to November while expenditure on services fell by 10%.
Spending on groceries was 14% or €195m higher while spending on clothing was also 14% or €61m higher. But sppending on transport was down 29%.
Today's Central Bank figures show that spending on goods was 3% higher compared to December 2020 while spending on services was 19% higher.
Social spending was 28% higher compared to December 2020.
The Central Bank said that in-store spending rose 10% from November to December and represented 58% of all point-of-sale purchases. Online spending fell 10% and represented 42% of point-of-sale purchases.
Point-of-sale purchases by cards rose by 10% compared to December 2020 to €7.2billion, but ATM withdrawals fell by 2% to €1.2billion. This is 31% less than December 2019.
The Central Bank said spending fell "sharply" in the week immediately following Christmas but based on daily figures, spending to January 23 was up 26% compared to the same time in 2021.
Card spending outside Ireland fell by 15%, or €46m, in December compared to November. However, this was up 65% or €105m compared to December 2020.
