Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index has revealed that household expenditure across all payment types grew by 6.1% year-on-year in June.
It noted that the pace of growth slowed slightly compared to previous months (+9.2% in May and +9.6% in April), but was still slightly faster than the average for the index series, which began in September 2014.
The Recreation and Culture sector has seen a strong boost, with the Irish Travel Agents Association reporting that 50% of its members had experienced an increase in bookings for summer 2016 in June.
Increases in direct bookings with airlines and new car sales in June also led to the Transport & Communication recording a double-digit increase of 11% in expenditure.
Spending via ecommerce grew by 15.3% year-on-year in June, while 'face-to-face' growth only rose 2% –the weakest rise in spending on the high street since December 2014.
Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager, Visa commented, "Irish consumer spending remains buoyant, with expenditure during the second quarter of 2016 +8.3% higher compared to the same period in 2015.
"While every sector benefited from the increase in spending, there was a marked contrast between the monitored categories with only two sectors recording double digit growth during the month."
Andrew Harker, Senior Economist at Markit added, "It was something of a game of two halves for the Irish consumer in June. Spending continued to increase solidly, with notable increases in spending in the Recreation & Culture and Transport & Communication sectors.
"On the other hand, there was a significant slowdown in sectors like Household Goods category where the rate of growth almost halved from the previous month."
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Jenny Whelan
