Limerick had one of the biggest 2021 lockdown increases on fast food spending reveals Revolut

IT SEEMS when the chips are down we in Limerick like to indulge in a take-away.

Revolut has revealed that County Limerick had one of the biggest 2021 lockdown increases on fast food spending. The county was joint second with Sligo (+20%) behind Louth (+24%).

This Sunday, new data from Revolut, the financial app with over 1.3m Irish customers, shows which counties have done best at weathering the financial impact of this year’s Covid-19 restrictions.

The data, which is adjusted for the growth in Revolut’s users, demonstrates that the Covid-19 restrictions have had significantly differing impacts on spending in different areas of the country. 

The new figures show that spending by Revolut customers from County Carlow rose by 17% during the January-March lockdown compared to the same period last year. 

Revolut customers from counties Longford, Waterford, Offaly and Louth all also recorded double-digit increases in spending during this year’s lockdown. Limerick was joint eighth highest (+7%).

In total, 17 counties saw overall spending by Revolut customers rise in Jan-March 2021 compared to Jan-March 2020. Spending year-on-year was unchanged in counties Dublin, Wicklow and Roscommon, meanwhile. 

By contrast, however customers from counties Sligo, Mayo, Clare, Cork, Leitrim and Galway all saw their spending fall year-on-year for the same period. 

Overall, spending nationally in Ireland during January-March 2021 was down by -3% year-on-year versus the same period in 2020. 

This further reinforces data from previous monthly Revolut reports which suggests that consumers have channelled much of their per-pandemic spending away from hospitality and tourism into other areas - including digital content and services, and spending in and around the home (e.g DIY, garden care, new appliances and pets). 

There was also significantly increased expenditure on groceries - up 27% nationally during this lockdown compared to January-March last year. Limerick was bang on the average of 27%.

Revolut’s data also reveals which counties have been most inclined to switch to online spending during lockdown. For the January-March period, online spending was highest among customers in Co Longford (50% of all spending), with counties Kerry and Dublin next highest (49% of spending was online and 51% was in person in both counties). 

Limerick's percentage of spending online was 48%.

By contrast, in counties Donegal, Wexford, Cavan, Laois, Sligo and Leitrim, physical spending still accounted for 55% of all spending - meaning just 45% was carried out online. The national average was 52% physical spending and 48% online. Limerick matched the national average exactly.

Meanwhile, Revolut customers in Louth saw the biggest lockdown increase on fast food spending (+24%), closely followed by counties Sligo and Limerick (+20%). In Monaghan, by contrast, spending on fast food fell by -14% year-on-year, with Roscommon (-10%) and Donegal (-9%) also seeing notable declines. 

Sebastian Hamilton, head of public affairs for Revolut Ireland, said: "We all know that Covid-19 restrictions have affected consumer spending in different parts of the country to differing degrees. Revolut’s latest high-frequency data analysis, showing exactly what is happening on the ground across the State, will hopefully be of benefit to policy-makers and businesses in assessing next steps as we head into the summer."