Cross-border shoppers spend €418m
However, there has been an overall slight reduction, in the level of cross-border shopping over 2010.
The findings of a new report by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) confirms a slender fall-off in expenditure by shoppers heading north.
Figures show a 4% reduction in cross-border spending by shoppers from the Republic, although the CSO described the level of decrease as not statistically significant.
The average amount spent by each household on a shopping trip across the border was €274. The average spend in the 2009 survey was €286.
The CSO estimates that €311m was spent on cross- border trips taken specifically for shopping purposes.
People living in border regions accounted for €240m of all spending by shoppers from the Republic in the North.
The results also reveal that one-in-seven households made a cross-border shopping trip during the year, with 14% of consumers making at least one shopping trip to the North compared to 16% in the previous survey.
The number of households in Dublin who shopped in the North fell from 21% to 15%.
However, the frequency of trips by consumers who travelled across the border for shopping rose from an average of 6.7 visits in 2009 to 8.6 visits this year.
Shoppers living close to the border made a notable increase in their number of visits to the North.
The survey highlighted how consumers who were most likely to shop in the North were those living in border areas and households where two people were working.
Consumers from border areas accounted for 34% of all cross-border shoppers, with Dublin representing 29% of the total and the capital’s commuter belt accounting for 15%.
Unsurprisingly, because of geographical distance, consumers from the mid-west, south-west and south-east combined accounted for just 8% of cross-border shoppers.
Households in the Border region visited the North on average over 20 times for shopping in a 12-month period.
Groceries remain the most popular item of expenditure, with 77% of all cross-border shoppers buying some food products, followed by alcohol (44%), clothing (40%) and cosmetics (25%).
The overall reduction in expenditure on cross-border shopping is probably due to a combination of falling prices for groceries in the Republic and consumers having less spending money overall due to the effects of the recession.