There was no major increase in consumer spending in April, as households continue to deal with the rising cost of living.
According to AIB's latest Spend Trend, spending was up just 0.41 per cent last month.
On average, consumers spent more than €80 million a day on cards throughout April, the same amount spent per day in March.
However, the amount of transactions declined by two million last month as consumers spent more per transaction.
John Brennan, head of SME at AIB, commented: "April consumer spending was flat overall when compared with the previous month.
"Consumers also transacted over two million times less than March despite spending the same amount.
"This means that their average transaction was higher during April, likely due to bigger ticket spend over the Easter break.
"The hospitality and staycation sector enjoyed a positive April with school holidays driving a rise in consumer spending in seaside towns and hotels across the country.”
Spending on hotels increased by 19 per cent over the Easter break, while spending on restaurants increased by nine per cent and pubs saw a four per cent increase.
According to AIB, Irish consumers spent over €63,000 per hour in the hotel sector in April 2022.
Coastal areas experienced the highest increase in spending, with Donegal up 27 per cent followed by Sligo (26 per cent), and Kerry (25 per cent).
Meanwhile, spending on airlines was down three per cent, electronics was down four per cent, and health and beauty also fell by three per cent last month.
Although spending dropped by two per cent among those under the age of 25, it was up among all other age groups, with the highest increase being four per cent from those aged 55-64.
