The number of retail transactions exceeded 20 billion for the first time in 2018 compared with 19.8 billion the previous year, as overall UK retail sales rose 4.1% to £381bn.

The value of credit card payments hit £81.9bn in the year, comprising 21.5% of the total spend. Debit cards accounted for £216.4bn in transactions – 56.8% of overall retail spend.

The number of transactions made in cash continued to decline, down from more than half of all transactions in 2013 to 38.3% in 2018. The value of cash transactions was £77.7bn during the year, accounting for 20.4% of total retail spend.