Collapse in travel spending amid political conflict fuels decline in card payments 

Reduced spending in April triggered a downturn across all sectors, with total monthly card payments falling by over 4% to €9.7bn

Central Bank said spending on travel agencies and tour operators fell by more than 9%, suggesting reduced holiday bookings and package tour demand

A more than 17% fall in airline spending combined with declines across all major sectors saw the monthly value of card payments fall by more than 4.2% in April.

Data released by the Central Bank of Ireland on Wednesday showed total card spending fell to €9.7bn in April, with the volume of transactions also falling by 4.6% to 244.5m.

Reduced spending in April triggered a downturn across all sectors, with expenditure value declining the most across services, social and miscellaneous.

In-person spending saw retail take the biggest absolute hit, falling by more than 3% to €2.98m in the month. This was followed by social spending, which dropped by 5.6% to €783.6m. 

Services and miscellaneous spending stood at €710.3m and €56.3m respectively, declining by 0.9% and 7.5%.

Similarly, in online spending, all sectors declined, with services experiencing the largest absolute fall of almost 4.7% to €3.52bn.

Services and retail are the largest sectors of card spending by Irish residents, the Central Bank said, with the value of services in April comprising 44% of total spending while retail accounts for 41%.

Meanwhile, Irish consumers spent €692m on transport in April, down almost 9% from March. When compared to April 2025, spending has declined by 2.8%, the regulator added. 

Air travel

It also noted that recent geopolitical events had intensified focus on air travel, with spending on airlines in April dropping by more than 17% compared to the previous month. On an annual basis, however, spending fell by a modest 0.08%. 

The Central Bank said the average transaction for airline tickets stood at €178.44, down 0.52% from the same period last year. According to the CSO, the prices for ‘Passenger transport by air’ declined by 18.4% over the year.

Notably, the regulator found consumer spending in airports grew by almost 4.7% on a monthly basis to €8.3m. On an annual basis, however, airport spending grew by a modest 0.66%

The data also showed spending on travel agencies and tour operators amounted to €220 million in April, down over 9.2% from March. Annually, this spending declined by 7.6%, suggesting reduced holiday bookings and package tour demand, the Central Bank said.