Danes’ Christmas spending could be another in a long list of signs that the country is moving on from the recession. 

 

With spending on the national debit card system Dankort reaching 27.8 billion kroner ($4.6 billion) through the first 23 days of the month, December 2014 represented a seven percent increase over the same period last year. 

 

Although the figures from Nets, the company behind the Dankort, didn’t differentiate between Christmas spending and everyday use, a top economist at Danske Bank said the results are a positive sign that Danish consumers have renewed confidence. 

 

“In the run-up to Christmas there was a lot of focus on the fact that a lot of stores had already had sales. With Dankort sales measured in running prices, that was seen a sign that Dankort use would fall. But the fact that it increased by seven percent anyway shows that Danes didn’t just use the attractive prices to buy cheaper but also to buy more,” Steen Bocian told Ritzau. 

 

“No matter how you look at the figures, it seems that private consumption is quickly on the rise. Therefore, these numbers are a really good sign for the Danish economy here at the end of 2014,” he added. 

 

Spending was especially strong on December 22nd, when Dankort use reached 1.75 billion kroner on the power of 4.8 million transactions. Both figures represent a new record, according to Nets. 

 

In the run-up to the Christmas season, the Danish Chamber of Commerce (Dansk Erhverv) predicted that Christmas spending would stall out this year and end at the same level as in 2012 and 2013.