Visa: Consumer spending increased by 4% in January
Visa has published its latest Consumer Spending Index report, illustrating another reduction in face-to-face spending, contrasted with a surge in online purchases
Print13 February 2017
Visa has published the figures of its monthly Consumer Spending Index, and as is generally the gist of the thing, consumer spending is on the increase year-on-year, coupled with slight slowdown in the rate of growth.
The Index which measures expenditure across all payment types, signalled a 4% increase in household spending year-on-year for January, while te rate of growth continued to be below the average witnessed since the Index was established in September 2014.
By now we’re used to seeing the divergence between online spending and high-street expenditure; this continued through January with face-to-face spending decreasing by 0.7% year-on-year. It’s a small reduction, but the fourth in as many months.
In contrast, spening on eCommerce has continued to surge. Spending was up by 12.3% year-on-year – the sixth straight month of double-digit expansion.
As we have noted before, online shopping is here to stay and is only going to continue to grow.
As for the eight individual sectors monitored within Visa’s Consumer Spending Index, all but one saw a year-on-year spending increase for January. The exception is Clothign & Footwear, which recorded a -1.9% decline.
Andrew Harker, Senior Economist at IHS Markit said:
“The pick-up in the rate of growth in January provides some reassurance that the recent slowdown in the pace of expansion has come to an end,” says Andrew Harker, senior economist at IHS Markit, “after December had seen the slowest rise in spending for 27 months. Other timely data such as business survey figures, unemployment data and consumer confidence numbers also suggest a more positive start to the year.”
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