Kilkenny was among three counties to see the biggest increases in a spend on flights.
More than €210million euro was spent on airline tickets in the first two months of this year according to AIB’s Spend Trend for February 2024, marking a 10% jump on the same period for last year, with daily spend up 11%.
People from Kilkenny (+18.4%), Mayo (+17.1%) and Longford (+16.5%) are the most keen to get away and had the highest increase in spend on flights while those in Leitrim (+1.4%), Wicklow (+7.1%) and Kerry (+7.4%) had the lowest increase in spend. Airline spend is split evenly between men and women, with those aged between 35 and 44 the highest spenders, followed closely by those aged between 45 and 54. The start of the year is traditionally a busy time for booking flights as people plan their holidays, however this is the highest level of spend ever, indicating that more people than ever are planning a trip abroad this year.
Overall consumer spend was up 4% last month when compared to January.
Spend on health and beauty increased 8%, while electronics decreased 6%. Total average daily spend on Electric Vehicle (EV) charging by AIB customers is up 63% over the past 12 months, from €6,769 to €11,003.
Spend in service stations is also up by 3% in the year – in the first two months of 2024 debit cards were used to pay out over a quarter of a billion euro.
That publication also shows that the biggest increase was in pubs, that rose 27% last month partly due to Ireland’s Six Nations rugby campaign – Sligo, Waterford and Tipperary saw the biggest rise here with Longford, Laois & Wicklow the smallest.
Despite easing inflation, the cost of living continues to impact Irish households, with grocery spend up one tenth in the month following a steep decline in January down 24%.
The monthly data was compiled from 67million debit and credit card transactions in store and online during February this year.
