January consumer spend up 4%

Both the Hotels, Restaurants & Bars and Recreation & Culture categories posted solid increases in spending year-on-year in January with a 6.7% rise in the amount consumers spent on nights out and hotel accommodation. 

The latest data from Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index, which measures expenditure across all payment types (cash, cheques and electronic payments), signalled a 4.0% increase in household spending year-on-year in January, with the rate of growth continuing to be below the average seen since the series began in September 2014.

At 3.1%, January’s Food & Drink spend increased for the second month running.