August Restaurant & Dining card spend up 23%

At €489.4 million debit and credit card spend in Ireland's Restaurants and Dining sector rose by €90 million or 23% in August compared to the €397.2m spend in July according to the Central Bank.

August’s card spend in the Restaurant/Dining sector was up 36% on the €358.8m spend of August 2020.

Total card spend, including ATM withdrawals, rose 6% (or €437 million) to €7.7 billion in August 2021 compared to the previous month and the Central Bank’s latest daily data to the 20th of September shows total spending increased over the month, with the average daily spend 3% higher than August.

Card spending on Accommodation, Dining and Transport were strong in August, reports the Central Bank with  the latest daily data to the 20th of September showing continued growth in spending in the Transport sector, with decreases in the Accommodation and Restaurant sectors.

 Social spending in August overall rose by 18% compared to the previous month. Entertainment spending also experienced strong growth of 9% or €20 million.