Restaurant spend up 10%, says AIB Spend Trend
Restaurant spend rose 10% while hotel spend increased 11% year on year, according to the AIB Spend Trend Report. It was also a strong month for car rental with spend up 10% year on year, and the number of transactions up 19%. However, the average transaction size fell from €115 to €106.
Cinemas were mining for gold over the Easter holidays as spending increased 47% compared to April 2024, largely driven by ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and likely helped by the wet weather over the school break.
The AIB Spend Trend for April has revealed a bumper month for cinema, particularly for mid-week ticket sales over Easter.
Adrian Moynihan, head of consumer at AIB.
The best day of the month for cinema spend was Saturday, April 5, which was the opening weekend for ‘A Minecraft Movie’.
It was also a strong month for car rental with spend up 10% year on year, and the number of transactions up 19%.
However, the average transaction size fell from €115 to €106.
Spending on Electric Vehicle (EV) charging was up significantly over the 12 months (+78%) as more people choose sustainable methods of transport to support the transition to a greener economy.
Airline spend was down 8% over 12 months, with the average online airline transaction at €247 in April.
The data was compiled from 74 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during April 2025 and has been anonymised and aggregated.
Data provided by AIB features one of the most comprehensive and accurate data sets on consumer spending in Ireland.
Overall spend increased 11% year on year, online spend rose 16% and in store spend climbed 6%.
55% of overall card spend was online, increasing to 67% for those aged 25-34.
In comparison, for those aged over 55, the majority of their spend was in store (58%).
Mayo (47%), Leitrim (48%) and Roscommon (48%) spend the least online, while Dublin (61%), Louth (58%) and Kildare (55%) spend the most online.
April was also a strong month for grocery spend which was up 8% year on year. People in Offaly, Cavan and Roscommon spent the most on groceries per transaction while people in Waterford, Louth and Dublin spent the least.
Easter Sunday (April 20) had the lowest card spend of any day so far in 2025.
Speaking about the data, Adrian Moynihan, head of consumer at AIB said “Overall, it’s very positive to see continued strong consumer spend levels in April, up 11% on the same period last year.
“With the Easter holidays traditionally a busy time for hotels and restaurants as people take advantage of the break, April saw strong spending increases across the hospitality sector which is a positive sign for businesses.
“As we know, you can never rely on Irish weather and true to form, we had a lot of rain over the Easter break, which coupled with a big movie release for children led to a strong month for cinema spend.
“It’s particularly positive to see the significant increase in spend on EV charging over the last 12 months, up 78%, as customers go green when it comes to transport.
“These data insights are crucial for businesses to help them plan accordingly and support our customers in their choices.”
