West Australians are expected to have spent over $5 billion in the lead-up to Christmas, on par with last year’s festive spending.

Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman said there was no increase from last year as there was pressure on food pricing in the state from the roll out of Aldi stores.

“Food sales make up 40 per cent of retail figures,” he told AAP on Friday.

“Coles and Woolworths want to keep their market share so there’s pressure on food prices.

“Fortunately for consumers, there’s not much growth in retail while food is under pressure.”

The national average for Christmas spending increased by 2.3 per cent, with shoppers forecast to spend a total of $48.1 billion in the six weeks leading to Christmas, $19.4 billion of which will have been on food.

The Northern Territory is the only other state where holiday spending did not increase, however WA residents are expected to embrace the post-Christmas sales.

“We forecast that WA will spend $1.9 billion in the post-Christmas period, 0.1 per cent up from last year,” Zimmerman said.

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