New Zealand payment processing network Worldline NZ said Christmas Eve was again the country’s busiest shopping day of last year, despite a decline from previous years.

Between 12pm and 1pm on December 24, Worldline NZ recorded 563,303 transactions. That same hour has been the busiest period each year since 2021. However, the numbers have fallen year-on-year from 2021’s peak of 660,815 transactions in a single hour.

The busiest minute, 12.13pm, saw 9745 transactions, and the busiest second saw 167 transactions. Both figures followed the same gradual decline from 2021.

Worldline NZ said that spending in the first 21 days of December was down 1.3 per cent on the same period in 2024. Its core retail data for the first 14 days of December was down 5.7 per cent on the same period in 2024.

Black Friday in New Zealand followed a similar trend, with a 6.2 per cent decline compared with 2024.