Airlines, takeaway firms and hospitality groups can take some crumbs of comfort from Barclaycard’s latest monthly spending data, according to analysis from US bank Jefferies.
On the surface the numbers reflect the effect of higher inflation, overall spending in May was up by 3.6% year-on-year, down from 4.23% in the month previously and the lowest rate of increase since October last year.
Spending classified as ‘essential’ rose by 4.9% fuelled by an 8.9% rise in the use of credit cards for buying groceries, which again was higher than spending classified as non-essential.
Jefferies though points out that times might be tough but Brits love of takeaways, foreign travel and going out is a hard habit to break.
Non-essential spending rose by in 3.0% in May but was much stronger in the "Travel' categories, with 'Travel' 'Travel Agents' and 'Airlines', up +13.6%, +9.9%, and +34.4% respectively versus a year earlier.
Compared to the period prior to the pandemic, (Apr'23 vs Apr'19), the numbers are even larger.
Takeaways and Fast Food (+103%) have seen the strongest non-essential growth followed by Digital Content & Subscription (+65%); Bars, Pubs & Clubs (+58%) and travel +13%, travel agents+14%, and airlines +14%.
Good news for Sky, one of the main reasons for the growth in digital content spending is the success of its series Succession.
Airlines, meanwhile, have been reporting a surge in passenger numbers for some time.
WizzAir will be the latest to update when it reports annual results tomorrow.
Shares in British Airways owner IAG were 157p today, up 27% over six months, while over the same period EasyJet is up 48% and Ryanair 31%.