Spending in Ireland rose at a slower rate, ahead of the 2019 Budget 2019 being announced.
The latest rise in household expenditure was the weakest recorded since March 2018, with the increases being seen acros Face-to-Face and eCommerce in September, according to the most recent IHS Markit produced Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index which monitors the expenditure across all payment types.
“The weak growth in spending recorded in September marks potential concern from Irish consumers, which aligns with the recent drop in consumer confidence reported elsewhere - amid factors such as the recent Budget announcement and ongoing Brexit negotiations," said Philip Konopik, ireland country manager, Visa.
"Conditions in the Irish economy are generally supportive of further increases in expenditure in coming months, but confidence among consumers weakened in August, potentially leading to a reluctance among households to spend,” added Andrew Harker, associate director, IHS Markit.
Mixed Performance
The high street registered growth, for the thirteenth successive month, of +1.1% year-on-year. That said, this rise was less marked than recorded in August (+2.1%).
A solid annual increase in online spending was also seen in September (+2.3%), although the rate of growth slowed for the fifth successive month and was the slowest since January of this year.
Covering eight categories, Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index revealed that Hotels, Restaurants & Bars had a rate expansion of + 8.2% , as well as Recreation & Culture, in which increased + 4.5%, however, the the strongest growth was again seen in Household Goods (+9.5%).
Solid growth was recorded in Food, Beverages & Tobacco (+2.8%) and Transport & Communications (+3.2%).
"There has been mixed performance across the categories this month," said Konopik, since there were falls for Clothing & Footwear recorded a decline (-2.2%) for a third month running, while expenditure decreased again in both Health & Education (-2.9%) and Miscellaneous Goods & Services (-4.0%).
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Maria Cabecos. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
