AIB has released some interesting data on consumer spending during the COVID-19 crisis.

· Overall, Wexford consumers are spending 19% less than normal since Covid-19 started to impact Ireland.

· However, Wexford consumers are spending 26% more on groceries, with those between the age of 45 and 54 recording the biggest increase at 35%.

· On 12^th March when schools closed and people were asked to work from home, grocery spend nationally was 60% higher compared with the previous Thursday as people rushed to buy necessities. Wexford consumers spent an average of €71 per grocery transaction on this day, compared with an average of only €47 the previous Thursday.

National Data

AIB data has revealed the spending habits of Irish consumers since Covid-19 started to impact the country at the beginning of March. The data has been compiled from over one million transactions between 8^th March and 11^th April and has been anonymised and aggregated.

On Thursday 12th March when An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced that schools would close and that people should work from home where possible, Irish consumers rushed to buy necessities as spending was 17% higher than a normal weekday, and 20% higher when compared with the previous Thursday.

Friday 13^th March saw consumers spending 4% more than normal as panic buying seemed to subside quickly. Every day after 13^th March has seen a significant drop in spending, with St Patrick’s Day recording a 47% drop in average spending – the lowest of any day since the crisis started.

Over 65s have recorded the biggest drop in spending as they adhere to government advice, with spending down 27% among this age group.  Spending by those under 25 recorded a drop of 21%, while those between the ages of 35-44 recorded a drop of 13%, the smallest decline of any age group.

Dublin customers recorded the biggest drop in spending (21%), while the surrounding counties followed closely. Meath and Kildare both experienced a drop of 19% with Wicklow falling 18% below the usual levels. Donegal recorded the lowest drop in spending at just 12%.

Online Versus In-store

Since a lot of stores were required to close as a result of Covid-19, Irish consumers have started to spend more online, with online clothing retailers performing strongly. The biggest online spending increase on a single day was on Friday 10^th April, Good Friday, when consumers spent 107% more than normal on clothing.

Cork (+139%), Louth (+137%) and Westmeath (+135%) recorded the highest increase in online clothing spend on this day, while spend on clothing from those in Dublin was 92% above normal.

This increase in clothing spend on this day was largely driven by under 25s as they spent 249% more than normal. Meanwhile, those over the age of 65 spent 37% more than usual buying clothes online on the same day.