Unfazed by inflation, Dublin shoppers keep spending

Retail spending volumes in Dublin continued to grow between April and June, marking the fifth consecutive quarter that sales volumes have increased.

MasterCard’s latest SpendingPulse report, produced on behalf of the four local authorities in Dublin, shows that overall spending volumes increased 1.6 per cent in the second quarter of the year as consumers continued to unleash pent-up demand.

MasterCard said spending was “particularly buoyant” in the entertainment sector, up 9.2 per cent from the first quarter of the year, likely due to the early summer tourism season.

Discretionary sales volumes increased 3 per cent in the three months to the end of June, despite rising prices and growing anxieties around the cost of living.

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However, the report noted that “increasing inflationary pressures are likely to be a major headwind for consumer spending in the coming quarters”.

Central Statistics Office data published last week indicated that the volume of retail sales declined 1.3 per cent nationally in June following a similar decline in May as consumers pared back spending on clothes, DIY products and big-ticket items such as electrical goods.

MasterCard said the recovery in retail spending over the past year had been only marginally stronger nationally than in the capital.

However, the recovery of tourist spending in Dublin, up 8 per cent in the second quarter, fell “considerably short” of national levels. Tourist spending increased 25 per cent nationally between April and June, the report highlighted.

“A number of factors that may have contributed to this gap, including soaring hospitality prices in the capital and evidence of reduced spending levels from the UK market,” MasterCard said.

“One silver lining to the crowds at the airports is that tourism spending is recovering nicely in Dublin and across Ireland,” said Michael McNamara, global head of SpendingPulse at MasterCard.

“Entertainment spending has also posted impressive results, along with a strong rebound in discretionary spending. The net result is that while the long queues due to the travel recovery are challenging, the positive economic impact on the community and the country are compelling.”