Non-essential spending up 7% year on year.
Spend on holidays now 57% behind 2019 levels as travel corridors continue to close
Essential spend up 5% year on year but commuting spend falls back from August
New restrictions introduced in September have not stopped consumer spending, as the recovery seen since July continues, according to
In September, non-essential spending grew 7% year on year, the largest increase recorded in any single month and eclipsing the 6% increase in August.
Restaurants - subject to both the 'Rule of Six' from the 14th September and the
Other high-street pillars also saw a resurgence in spending. Department stores, hit badly by pandemic lockdown measures, saw spending jump 11% year on year, compared to just 1% last month. Elsewhere, home stores continued to attract significantly more money from shoppers this year, 37% above 2019 levels, as well as electrical stores (31%).
Spending at clothing retailers grew 5% year on year in September; only one percentage point less than last month.
With a limited number of travel corridors in place between the
Essential spend
Food and drink spend continues to trend at levels significantly above last year (20%), making up the majority of essential spend growth.
As the government moved back to encouraging people to work from home, commuter spending was down in September, by 44% year on year (from 43% in August). Fuel spend is now only 11% less than a year ago, having been as much as 54% down, in
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