Irish consumer face-to-face spending fell by 3.9% in February, research shows.
Research has shown a decrease in consumer spending for a second time in the past three months during February.
“While the likes of the Hotels, Restaurants & Bars (+6.7% year-on-year) & Recreation & Culture (+1.2% year-on-year) sectors saw a boost in February thanks to the mid-term break and Valentine’s day, this failed to drive sales on the high street with spending down -3.9% year-on-year, Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager, Visa said.
Overall, having risen slightly during January (+0.1%), expenditure was down by -0.6% on a year-on-year basis, which was the sharpest reduction in real spending recorded for two years, according to the latest Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index.
Traditional Retail Categories
Spending fell in all other categories covered by the report, perhaps most notably in the traditional retail categories of Food & Beverages (-1.3%).
“Amid the backdrop of an uncertain economic and political climate, which has led to a further drop in consumer confidence in February, household spending fell on the annual measure for the second time in the past three months," added Andrew Harker, associate director at IHS Markit.
The sharpest reduction in spending was, however, reserved for Miscellaneous Goods and Services (which includes jewellery, health and beauty). Expenditure in this category was down by -5.3%, a fall that was broadly in line with January’s four-year record fall.
© 2019 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
