Online shopping and utilities raise card spending by AIB customers

According to the latest AIB Spend Trend report, spending online increased by 12% year-on-year while spending in stores remained flat. File picture

Irish consumer spending increased by 7% in the year to the end of February driven by an increasing preference for online shopping as well as additional spending on utilities, new data from AIB shows.

According to the latest AIB Spend Trend report, spending online increased by 12% year-on-year while spending in stores remained flat. Spend on digital games increased by 33% while spending on music streaming and record sales increased by 14%, with the vast majority of this spend, 97%, taking place online.

The report also found that card spending by AIB customers on utilities, which excludes telecoms and streaming, increased by 26% over the year with those bills expected to grow even higher over the coming weeks as the war in Iran is expected to impact oil and energy markets.

Money spent on charging electric cars increased by 39% in the year with AIB attributing this rise to greater adoption of electric vehicles and expanded charging infrastructure.  The trend towards electric cars continues with data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) earlier this week showing an 8% increase in new electric car sales during February. 

Restaurant spending increased by 6% year on year. However, spending in pubs fell by 2% over the 12 months with the largest decreases seen in Louth, down 10%, Offaly, down 8%, and Dublin, down 5%. 

The busiest days for the pub sector so far in 2026 were St Brigid’s Day, followed by the Ireland vs England Six Nations rugby match on February 21, and the Ireland vs Italy rugby head-to-head on Valentine’s Day.

Spending on experiences dipped during the month. Spending on tickets to events and cinemas both decreased by 8% and 18% respectively, year on year.

“The decline in cinema spend likely reflects changing consumer preferences and the increased availability of streaming options,” AIB said.

Spending on airline tickets also decreased by 9% despite the poor weather experienced across much of the country during the first two months of the year.

The largest decrease was in Cavan, down 23%, as well as Carlow and Clare, both down 17%. Kilkenny was the only county to buck the trend, with a small increase in spend on airline travel, up 1%.

The data for the AIB Spend Trend was compiled from 70 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during February 2026 and has been anonymised and aggregated.