Aldi has toasted a spike in Christmas sales as it wooed “more customers than ever before” during the festive period.

The discounter posted a 7.9% increase in total sales during the four weeks to December 24, as its Christmas revenues passed the £1bn mark for the first time.

Aldi’s performance was buoyed by new store openings and “strong” performance across beers, wines and spirits, fresh British meat and its premium Specially Selected ranges.

The grocer said sales of alcohol jumped 9.2% year on year, with sales of sparkling wine increasing 14%. Sales of its Specially Selected ranges grew almost 8% as customers traded up to premium products during the Christmas period.

Aldi said it sold 55 million mince pies, 22 million pigs-in-blankets and more than 2 million Christmas puddings during the four-week period.

Aldi UK boss Giles Hurley said: “More customers than ever before shopped with us this Christmas because they knew Aldi offered unbeatable value on premium products and the lowest prices on festive essentials.

“Although we saw strong growth across all key categories, sales of our premium Specially Selected range surpassed expectations, as customers snapped up these products for a fraction of the price they would have paid elsewhere.”