Spending among those between the ages of 18 and 25 jumped 7% in September as students returned to college, according to new debit and credit card data from AIB.
This age group saw the second highest increase in card spending, narrowly behind those over the age of 65 who recorded an 8% increase in spending last month.
Spending across the hospitality sector dropped off when compared to the summer months - with spend on hotels down 25%, restaurants down 7% and pubs down 11%.
As the global economy begins to open back up for international travel, the data shows that spending on airlines was up 26% - the seventh consecutive monthly increase since the AIB 'Spend Trend' series began.
Spending on health and beauty, electronics, hardware, homeware and groceries all increased during the month of September.
"As we’ve seen with previous reports, consumer spending in Ireland is seasonal with various sectors seeing different spend profiles depending on the time of year," said John Brennan, Head of SME Banking at AIB.
"This data can be very useful for businesses as they plan based on activity levels throughout the year," he added.
Overall, the data shows that consumer spending continued to rise in September, up 4% on August despite spending in the hospitality sector decreasing.
Card usage continued to rise with a 0.55% increase in chip and Pin usage, and a 6% increase in digital wallet usage during September.
Online spending also rose 11% in September having flattened out during the summer months.
