'Back to school' effect leads to a surge in spending on education

Central Bank figures show that despite a total fall of more than 2.4% in retail, spending on education soared by more than 120% in August

Irish households spent an additional €66m on education compared with July, while on an annual basis, spending rose by more than 3%.

Irish consumers spent less in August than in the previous month, driven by a fall across several sectors, new figures from the Central Bank of Ireland show. 

Data released by the regulator on Wednesday show that total card spending amounted to almost €9.5bn in August, marking a 2.76% fall compared to the previous month.

However, despite the short-term dip, both the value and volume displayed strong annual growth, rising by 7.7% and 6% respectively.

With an overall decline in monthly spending, many sectors, including retail, services, and miscellaneous, also saw significant decreases. 

Yet, despite a total fall of more than 2.4% in retail, spending on education soared by more than 120% in the month. Irish households spent an additional €66m on education compared with July, while on an annual basis, spending rose by more than 3%.

The Central Bank said the spike was largely attributed to "back-to-school" spending, which it said was consistent with inflation figures on education from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

In particular, the main merchant driving the annual increase in Education spending was colleges and universities, where spending rose by over 6% compared with August 2024. In contrast, spending on elementary and secondary schools declined in the year, also falling by around 6%.

In addition to this, spending on office and stationery equipment also rose in the month, increasing by almost 8%. However, despite the strong monthly growth, yearly spending declined by almost 12%.

One merchant driving this growth is office and school supply stores, which the Central Bank said is likely a back-to-school effect, with value spent increasing by more than 63% compared to the previous month.