Consumer spending in June fell to lowest level in five years
Consumer spending fell to the lowest level in five years in June, according to figures from Visa’s Irish Consumer Spending Index.
An annual 2.6% reduction last month was sharper than the contraction of 1.1% seen in May.
The Index, produced by IHS Markit, measures expenditure across all payment types.
Consumer spending also fell on an annual basis across the second quarter as a whole, with expenditure down 0.9%.
This was the first reduction in any quarter in the series history which began in September 2014.
Declines were recorded in both eCommerce and high street expenditure, down 0.5% and 3.7% year-on-year respectively.
Five of the eight monitored sectors saw spending decreases.
Clothing and Footwear posted a marked reduction of 5.5%, as did the Food and Drink (2.5%) and Transport and Communication (3.7%) sectors.
The only three sectors to post increases in spending year-on-year were Hotels, Restaurants and Bars (5.1%), Household Goods (2.1%) and Recreation and Culture (+1.3%).
On the other hand, Household Goods (2.1%) saw the weakest increase in spending in the near five-year series history.
Philip Konopik, Ireland Country Manager at Visa, said: “The latest CSI figures are a cause of concern, as both face-to-face and eCommerce registered declines in consumer spending. Indeed, only three sectors posted increases in expenditure last month as Irish consumers remained cautious of their purse strings.
"Clothing and footwear marked the fastest decline year to date for the sector at -5.5%. While there was weakness across the majority of sectors in June, one positive note was the Hotels, Bars and Restaurants sector which saw the fastest rise last month at +5.1%.”
