The number of debit cards issued in Ireland rose to over five million in June this year.

This is the highest number since the series began in January 2015.

However the Central Bank says approximately 685,000 of these are not in "active use".

It says the total monthly value of new card transactions, including ATM transactions, increased by 6% on an annual basis to €5.8bn in June.

The total value of debit card transactions were 5.4 times the value of credit card expenditure.

Debit card transactions accounted for 54% of gross new transactions on all cards.

While credit card spending also increased year-on-year in June, albeit by a lower extent, by €13.5m.

Gross card expenditure | Source: Central Bank

The Central Bank adds: "Significant growth in debit card expenditure was recorded across all main categories, with retail spending increasing by €253m (or 18%) on an annual basis in June.

"Expenditure in the services sector rose by 15%, with the social sector increasing by 20%.

"Within the social sector, restaurant/dining recorded the highest annual growth rate of any sub-category, rising by 23%".

In contrast, credit card expenditure rose at a notably slower pace, by just 2% on a year-on-year basis.

Spending in the retail, services and social sectors rose by around 5% on the year.

The utilities sub-category recorded the highest growth, increasing by 12%.

A sectoral breakdown of card expenditure (June 2018) | Source: Central Bank

The figures suggest total e-commerce expenditure continued to grow on an annual basis in June, rising by 13% to just over €1.4bn.

Of this, €1bn and €412m is attributable to debit cards and credit cards respectively.

"As a share of total new transactions, e-commerce expenditure has fallen from a peak of 29% in January 2018 to 25% in June.

"E-commerce now accounts for 21% of all debit card expenditure and 45% of all credit card purchases", the Central Bank says.

In total, 77% of credit card spending was split between retail (39%) and services (38%) in June 2018.