Dublin shoppers keep spending as retail sales continue to grow

Retail spending volumes in Dublin continued to grow between January and March, marking the eighth 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 first quarter of the year.

Spending on necessities increased 3 per cent in the three months to the end of March, likely a reflection of stubbornly high inflation rates for food.

However despite cost-of-living pressures, Dublin consumers also continued to spend their cash on hospitality and big-ticket household items, with spending on entertainment and household goods up 2 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively.

Annual growth of 5.5 per cent in retail spending was primarily driven by a 21.1 per cent increase in expenditure at hotels, bars and restaurants, as the hospitality sector’s recovery continued.

Spending by visitors to Dublin grew by 7.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2023. Chinese visitors saw the fastest growth in spending (18.2 per cent) with expenditure from other key tourist markets of France, Germany and the UK growing at rates of between 6-7 per cent.

American tourist spending recorded its second consecutive fall in the capital, declining 7.7 per cent on a quarterly basis, despite a 10.2 per cent increase nationally.