Online spending rises by 11%

Irish consumers are spending more money online, as sales continue to grow this year.

Visa's Irish Consumer Spending Index shows that online spending has seen a sharp increase of more than 11% year on year, which represents a five-month high.

This contrasts with face-to-face expenditure, which has declined for the 11th month in a row.

The report found that the best-performing sector for the month of August was household goods, which increased by 10.6%.

Consumers are also spending 5.5% more on clothing and footwear, which is the sector's highest rate of expansion in 15 months.

The only category not to see a rise in spending was food and drink.