February spend in pubs up 49%
Those between the ages of 25 and 34 recorded the biggest spending increase nationally when broken out by age as people started to socialise again.
On average, consumers spent €1.6 million a day in pubs through the month with those in Dublin spending €500,000 a day in pubs, more than any other county.
Donegal consumers recorded the biggest increase in pub spend during the month, up 60% on January, followed by those from Mayo and Sligo (both 57%).
Meanwhile those between the ages of 25 and 34 recorded the biggest spending increase nationally when broken out by age as people started to socialise again.
Restaurant and hotel spend was also up 18% and 29% respectively.
AIB has anonymised and aggregated the data compiled from over one million card transactions carried out by Irish consumers during February.
All comparisons are based on February versus January unless otherwise stated.
“Data provided by AIB features one of the most comprehensive and accurate data sets on consumer spending in Ireland,” stated AIB whose analysis includes approximately 1.1 billion AIB Credit and Debit Card transactions.
Based on this data, AIB revealed that, overall, spending during the month was up 7% with contactless and digital wallet payments up 11% and 14% respectively. On average, total consumers spend on a daily basis was €78 million a day throughout the month of February.
“After the full lifting of restrictions consumer spending in February across the hospitality sector and in general was up as people returned to socialising again,” said the Head of SME Banking at AIB John Brennan, “However, we’re noticing the impact inflation is starting to have on consumers as they spend more on certain items such as groceries, despite transacting less. Given the geopolitical situation at the moment following the invasion of Ukraine, it’s expected that rising prices will be a continued feature of the economic landscape over the coming months for consumers.”
