Honeymoon period of post-lockdown spending ends

Data from Bank of Ireland and Revolut shows a fall in spending as the holiday season drew to a close

Restaurants suffered a drop of 18%, fast food purchases declined 17%, and spending in pubs fell 22%.

Debit and credit card transactions by Bank of Ireland customers fell 6% last month when compared to August as consumer activity nationwide slowed down.

The data reveals an overall decline in social spending as people returned to their more regular routines. Restaurants suffered a drop of 18%, fast food purchases declined 17%, and spending in pubs fell 22%.

Transport spend saw a 3% rise, with train and bus expenditure rising by 2%, while car rental dropped by 17% in September and toll road fees dropped by 1%. 

With the lifting of international travel restrictions, airline spending rose 20% with people eyeing up a city or sunshine break for later in the year.

International spending dipped as debit and credit card activity in Portugal (-6%), the UK (-5%), Italy (-1%), and Spain (-1) fell.

"The honeymoon period of spending after the lifting of restrictions appears to be normalising, in line with schools reopening and more businesses returning to the office," said John O’Beirne, director of business banking at Bank of Ireland. 

"The data appears to indicate that those with more money and time are still looking to spend, while others are holding steady."

Supply chain warnings

Separate data from Revolut of its customers shows shoppers are heeding supply chain warnings for Christmas with a 17% increase recorded in spending in toy shops.

Spending on digital goods also saw a huge monthly increase, with a 42% jump in video game spending and a 10% increase in spending on apps and other virtual goods.

The Revolut data also showed overall spending in September fall compared to August, but it was well above spending in September 2019, said Revolut.

September saw slight dips in month-on-month consumer spending on retail shopping and, in particular, on tourism-related categories such as hotels and museums as children went back to school and the holiday season drew to a close.