Canberrans have opened their wallets and punched in their pin codes at record levels in 2018, as retail spending in the capital soars beyond $5 billion.
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The ACT's growing and relatively high-wage-earning population is being credited for an increased buoyancy in the ACT's retail sector.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show more than $4.91 billion had been spent in the ACT's retail sector as of October this year, up from $4.62 million at the same time in 2017.
Total retail turnover was expected to rocket past the $5 billion mark by the end of the year, with the Australian Retailers Association predicting Canberrans would spend $940 million in the six weeks leading up to Christmas Day.
That would mark a 2.9 per cent increase on pre-Christmas spending in 2017, equal to the national average.
Nationwide, shoppers were forecast to part with $50 billion in the run up to December 25, with spending in New South Wales expected to reach $16.2 billion.
Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said the ACT's retail turnover results in 2018 suggested the local sector was "travelling along quite nicely".
Mr Zimmerman said population growth, low unemployment and the capital's relatively high median household income was driving the increased spending.
"People are feeling pretty comfortable at the moment in the ACT," he said.
"The ACT has done fairly well of the past few years, and that suggests there is a reasonable amount of buoyancy by the consumer there."
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show national retail spending has grown steadily in 2018, with turnover as of October up 3.2 per cent from 12 months prior.
Mr Zimmerman said spending at supermarkets had increased significantly in 2018, while the clothing sector - which he described as a "big basket case" in recent years - was undergoing somewhat of a renaissance.
He said people were also spending more on household furniture as they looked to spruce up their homes.
"My view on the upsurge in people buying furniture is that because housing has slowed off a little bit, people are looking more at what they can do within their homes to upgrade and make them look nicer," he said.
