Hotels/Restaurants spend lowest since August ‘17
A modest decline in overall spending took place in May with the latest data showing that expenditure declined by 1.4% on the year following growth of 1.2% in April. May marked the second month in 2019 that a reduction in spending has been registered.
The Food & Beverages, Clothing & Footwear, Transport & Communication and Miscellaneous Goods & Services sectors all registered year-on-year falls in expenditure of 0.7%, 2.6%, 2.6% and 3.9% respectively.
“While the fall in Irish consumer spending has largely been driven by a poor performance on the High Street, it seems that consumers are becoming more cautious of their purse strings as eCommerce also recorded a weakened rate of growth for the third successive month,” said Philip Konopik, Visa’s Ireland Country Manager, “While some sectors did see a rise in spending, rates of expansion have slowed.”
Paul Smith, Economics Director at IHS Markit, added, “The latest data add to a view of a weakening Irish economy in the first half of the year in line with the broader European and global slowdown. Against this backdrop, any notable pick-up in the coming months seems unlikely, although the recent improvements in consumer sentiment and business surveys provides hope of a return to some stabilisation and modest growth.”
