January’s Restaurant/Dining card spend up 162%

At €361.1 million, debit and credit card spend on the Restaurants/Dining sector was down 17% in January compared with the previous month December 2021's spend of €437.1 million, according to Central Bank figures.

But the Central Bank’s figurs also inidicate that comparing January’s card spend of €361.1 million with that of January 2021 (€137.8 million), spend in this sector was up by 162%.

According to the Central Bank, “The latest high-frequency daily data shows that the year-on-year pick-up in spending observed in the opening weeks of 2022 has continued in recent weeks, with spending so far in February (to February 25th) 28%, or €1.1 billion, higher than in February 2021 as the public health restrictions in place last year limited spending”.

Card spend on the ‘social’ category decreased by 20%, or by €157 million in January, compared to the previous month, December, in line with seasonal trends. Compared to the previous year ‘though, social spending increased by 100%, or by €309 million to €617.5 million.

“This was driven by an increase in restaurants spending, which rose by 162%, or €223 million, while spending on entertainment increased by 57%, or €83 million,” reports the Central Bank.