The value of retail spending in Dublin increased 1.3% quarter-on-quarter and 6.5% year-on-year in the third quarter, although consumers are buying less at higher prices, according to the latest MasterCard SpendingPulse.

Growth was recorded across all five categories monitored in the study, with discretionary expenditure rising the most quarter-on-quarter at 3.4%, followed by necessities (2.4%), and household goods (1.1%).

After double-digit growth in each of the past six quarters, expansion in entertainment spend slowed considerably to 0.7%.

Annual growth of 6.5% in retail spending was driven by a 58% increase in entertainment spending following the recovery of hotels, bars and restaurants, while household goods expenditure was up 4.2%.

Spending via e-commerce maintained a positive quarterly growth rate of 1.6% and an annual growth rate of 10.7%.

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Retail spending nationally grew at the slower rate of 3.5% year-on-year, again driven by increasing entertainment spend (+54.9%) while household goods (+3.5%) and e-commerce spend (+10.7%) also rose.

"Higher prices compared to a year ago helped to drive retail sales growth rates in Q3," said Michael McNamara, global head of SpendingPulse at MasterCard. 

"The growth in necessities, household goods as well as discretionary spending are all up in the low single digits, while the recovery in tourism spending drove 58% growth in the Entertainment sector in Dublin and 55% growth in Ireland overall.”

The research found that spending by visitors to Dublin was stable in Q3 at +0.4%, far below expectations.

The modest annual expansion in Dublin tourist spending was substantially exceeded at the national level where expenditure grew by 11.9% quarter-on-quarter.

Receding expenditure by French visitors (-26.5% on a quarterly basis) was the main contributor to weak growth in Dublin in Q3, although there was double-digit growth from the US (+27.3%), UK (+15.3%) and Chinese (+11.9%) markets.

The German market recorded quarterly growth of 5.8% in Q3 – its strongest thus far in 2022.

(Pic: Getty Images)