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Restaurant spend up 10% year on year, says card spend trend
Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt at the Devil Wears Prada 2 European premiere in London. Entertainment spend in Ireland was up 6% over 12 months, partially driven by strong growth in cinemas with sales up 53% on May 2025. Picture: Ian West/PA
A surge in expenditure on EV charging and trips to the cinema saw card spending in Ireland rise last month.
Discretionary activity spend among AIB card holders was up in May, with spend in restaurants (+10%), pubs (+5%) and fast food (+7%) all increasing year on year, according to the AIB Spend Trend for May, with overall spend for the month up 2%.
The data was compiled from 83m card transactions carried out by AIB customers in store and online during May 2026.
Service station spend continues to rise, with an 8% increase over May 2025, while EV charging is up 74%. Spend on road and bridge tolls is up 7%.
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Airline spend is down 6%, cruise line spend is down 29% while travel agency spend is down 3%, over the 12 month period.
Entertainment spend was up 6% over 12 months, partially driven by strong growth in cinemas with sales up 53% on May 2025. The bank holiday Sunday - May 3 - was the highest spend day in cinemas this year, taking in the recent release of The Devil Wears Prada 2, and the Michael Jackson biopic Michael. The two films helped push UK and Ireland box office takings to Blockbuster releases including Michael and The Devil Wears Prada 2 brought May 2026 past €150m.
Spend on electrical goods was up 11% year on year in advance of the World Cup.
Clothing store spend was down 9% on the level seen in May 2025, juxtaposed with huge growth in second hand stores – such as Vinted - spend, which is up 197% year on year.
When looking at clothing spend, the share between men and women varies by county. Monaghan has the lowest male share, with men accounting for 23% of spend compared to 77% for women. At the other end of the scale, Westmeath records the highest male share, with men accounting for 31% of clothing spend versus 69% for women.
Taxi spend was up 8% over 12 months Pharmacy spend was up 3% year on year Pub sales rose but off licence sales were down 10%.
“The AIB Spend Trend data for May shows a resilience among Irish consumers after the initial impact of rising energy costs impacted spending patterns the previous month,” said AIB’s head of consumer, Adrian Moynihan. “In particular, spend on discretionary activities such as eating out and cinema trips increased strongly in May. Service station spend levels remain elevated however as a result of the continued impact of the Middle East conflict.”
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