UK card spending falls for first time since February 2021

The amount that UK consumers spent on cards declined last month for the first time since the middle of the pandemic, as June's mixed weather hit high street purchases but boosted spend on takeaways, streaming subscriptions and overseas travel.

According to the monthly Barclays UK Consumer Spend Report, consumer card spending fell by 0.6% year-on-year in June, significantly less than the latest CPIH inflation rate of 2.8% and the first annual drop since February 2021.

Essential spending declined 0.9%, the biggest year-on-year fall since April 2020, as grocery spend fell by 2.2%. Meanwhile, non-essential spending also dropped 0.5%, the steepest decline since February 2021.

Fuel spend was 3.2% lower than last year, though the comparative period saw a hike in energy prices due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Overall retail spending was 2.6% lower than last June, which saw lots of sunshine and warm weather, with this year's cold and wet conditions impacting sales of things like clothing, home improvement and DIY products.

However, hospitality and leisure spend rose by 3.0%, with takeaways and fast food sales rising 4.4%, while digital content and subscriptions spend jumped 9.2%, boosted by popular releases such as House of the Dragon and Bridgerton, Barclays said.

Another bright spot was the travel agents and airlines categories, with spend rising by 5.5% and 3.2% on last year respectively.