A recent report suggests a slowdown in Irish household expenditure growth in the month of May.
The Visa Irish Consumer Spending Index rose 0.6% year-to-year in May, a continuation of April trends when it was up 0.7%
"Irish consumer spending continued to rise on an annual basis in May, but very slowly and in stark contrast with the same period last year where we saw a 9.2% year-on-year increase", Ireland Country Manager for Visa Philip Konopik said.
Sluggish rises in spending during the second quarter of this year have been among the weakest since the start of the series in September 2014.
The Irish Consumer Spending Index measures expenditure across all forms of payment, including cash, cheque and electronic payments.
Recent growth has been particularly weak in comparison to the strong increases seen during much of 2016, with growth not rising above 4.5% since last September.
Of the growth that has happened, most was via eCommerce channels, which is up 7% year-to-year.
In person, face-to-face spending fell again, down 2.5% this month.
"The high street is being hit hardest as people search out bargains online in the face of stronger inflationary pressures, with face-to-face spending down for the eighth month in a row during May", senior economist at IHS Markit Andrew Harker said.
May’s highest performing sector was household goods, where spending was up 6.2%, faster than April growth of 5.3%.
"On a positive note, clothing and footwear saw a year-on-year increase of +0.8%, marking the second consecutive month of growth for that sector. An encouraging trend given the category was tracking a decline in spending for seven of the previous eight months", Mr Konopik said.
Food and frink also posted a solid increase of 3.2%, a third month of growth in a row.
The only sector to see a drop in expenditure over the year was transport & communication, the second successive month in which a reduction has been seen.
Spending in that sector was down -1.9% year-on-year, a marginally slower fall than in April which came in at -2.2% decrease.
"Irish households continued to display an element of caution in their spending in May", Mr Harker said.
