Wellington, Dec 10 (IANS): New Zealanders used their credit and debit cards to spend more in November, particularly on furniture, electrical and hardware, the country's statistics department Stats NZ said on Friday.

The total retail card spending rose 9.6 per cent from October, Xinhua news agency quoted Stats NZ as saying.

"Card sales continue to rise in November, as Covid-19 alert levels eased for upper North Island, which allowed more non-essential retail businesses to open," business performance manager Ricky Ho said in a statement.

Within the retail spending category, that on durable goods increased by the most in seasonally adjusted terms, up 22.9 per cent from October. This section includes furniture, electrical, hardware, department stores, and sports goods, Ho said.

"The sharp increase in spending on furniture, electrical, and hardware coincided with Black Friday sales at the end of the month," he said, adding that over the year, spending on durables rose 11.4 per cent from November 2020, reaching a record for the month of November.

"Black Friday promotions appear to be more popular than ever, with Kiwis spending more on durable goods such as cell phones and laptops in the lead up to Christmas," Ho said.

Groceries and liquor were the only spending category that saw a decrease in card spending over November, down 0.6 per cent from October, statistics showed.

In actual terms, total electronic card spending was NZ$8.4 billion ($5 billion) in November, up 1.2 per cent year on year, according to Stats NZ.