Restaurants and DIY stores fuel spending as monthly card payments up over 15% in March

Central Bank of Ireland said the significant rise in card spending could be partly attributed to St. Patrick's Day and the start of the spring season

St. Patrick's Day Parade in Limerick 2026 

A surge in expenditure on restaurants and DIY led to card spending in March rising by almost 16% compared to the previous month.

New figures released by the Central Bank on Wednesday show that the total value of card payments in March totalled €10.1bn, reflecting a monthly increase of 15.7%.

On an annual basis, card spending in March was up by almost 10% compared to the same period in 2025. 

The Central Bank said both transaction values and volumes, which also rose compared to last year, demonstrated "robust growth" on an annual basis. 

The regulator also noted "clear evidence" of a structural shift toward e-commerce, with online payments rising to €5.45bn in value, outpacing in-person transactions of €4.68bn in the same period. 

"This reflects both persistent substitution toward digital channels and potentially price effects due to e-commerce offering lower prices for a similar product," the Central Bank said. 

The report also noted enhanced spending across all sectors, particularly across social, retail and service industries. The regulator said this rise could be partly attributed to the start of the spring season and St. Patrick's Day celebrations. 

It also noted the beginning of spring renovations and garden repairs, with the hardware sub-sector recording strong monthly growth of almost 18%. 

This increase was driven by furniture, home furnishings, and equipment stores, lumber and building material stores, and nurseries, lawn, and garden supply stores.

Spending in furniture, home furnishings, and equipment stores rose by €8.63bn compared with February, representing an increase of almost 9%., likely reflecting spring-related home improvements.

The Central Bank also found restaurants and dining to be the primary sub-sector driving social growth, with Irish consumers spending €852m. Month-on-month, this represented an increase of over 19%, the regulator said.

Within this category, drinking places were the primary growth driver, accounting for €222.6m. On a monthly basis, spending increased substantially by almost 25% per cent and year-on-year by over 4%. 

The regulator said this seasonal increase is expected over St. Patrick's Day  as Irish consumers celebrate during the period.

March also saw spending on agriculture fuel an overall rise in service expenditure, which agri spending rising by almost a third compared to the previous month.

The main contributor to this growth was agricultural cooperatives spending, which totalled €62.57m in March, up almost 40% compared with February.