February consumer spending dips
While the Household Goods and Hotels, Restaurants & Bars sectors recorded notable rates of growth in spend of 7.6% and 6.7% respectively, spending fell in all other retail categories covered by Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index for February, perhaps most notably in the traditional retail categories of Food & Beverages (down 1.3%) and Clothing & Footwear (down 3.8%).
Produced by IHS Markit, which measures expenditure across all payment types (cash, cheques and electronic payments), the Visa figures show some growth in Health & Education (3.2%) and a modest increase in Recreation & Culture (1.2%).
For the Food & Beverages sector, the decline was the first in the past 18 months.
“While the likes of the Hotels, Restaurants & Bars & Recreation & Culture 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,” said Philip Konopik, Visa’s Ireland Country Manager.
