Spending on Bank of Ireland Credit/Debit Cards up 6.4% in July

This month’s Bank of Ireland credit/debit card data shows consumer spending expanding at a healthy pace of 6.4% year-on-year in July 2025, similar to May and June. Spending growth remains well above the rate of inflation, which came in at 1.7% in July. Growth was broad based across Retail, Services and Social sectors. Most other indicators of consumer spending remain solid, despite fairly soft consumer confidence. It is to be hoped that the trade/tariff deal recently agreed between the EU and the US may provide a bit of a boost to sentiment – however, as it was agreed at the end of July we will have to wait until we get August and September data to begin to gauge its effect on spending.

Bank of Ireland Economics Weekly Aug 8th