The average household will spend €1555 more in retail during the month of December compared to other months, up 1% on last year.
That’s acccording to new data published this Christmas Eve by Retail Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the retail sector.
The group expects to see about €8.9 billion euro in retail spending in December, €3 billion more than the typical spend in other months.
It says Christmas spending growth will be supported, in part, by Budget 2025, which put €2 billion euro back into the economy in November and December in additional cost of living supports.
“Black Friday falling a week later than last year and bad weather earlier in the month meant some delayed their Christmas shopping, but there has been encouraging trends over recent days,” said Retail Ireland Director, Arnold Dillon.
He said businesses are optimistic that this will translate into positive trading figures after a challenging year.
Mr Dillon also said that while there has been a pickup in retail spending over recent days, consumers are decerning. “Cost of living concerns remain and this is translating into shopping patterns, with many still looking for value or focusing on a smaller number of bigger purchases.”
He said despite these factors, consumer sentiment has improved over recent months with shoppers determined to get the full Christmas experience.
Retail Ireland expects this positive trend to continue into 2025.
“It has been a challenging year for retail, with sentiment improving steadily, but not by as much as we might have expected,” he said. “Business costs have also increased very significantly. Inflation has dropped dramatically over recent months, but a more benign inflationary outlook and strong employment has not fully translated into retail spending increases.
“Retailers will be hoping that cost of living concerns ease further in 2025.”