Visa Consumer Spending Index May 2020

Visa's UK Consumer Spending Index also eased on record declines, with spending volumes down by 19.9% in May compared to 27.8% in April.

Face-to-face spending plummeted 33.3% in May as lockdown measures took its toll on physical retail sales. The performance of ecommerce improved on recent months, but remained in negative territory with spending edging down by 0.5% year-on-year in May.

Visa Consumer Spending Index – May 2020

Source: Visa

Volumes fell in six out of the eight categories monitored in May, with Food and Beverages & Tobacco (+36.3%) reporting a rise, as well as Household Goods (+4.5%) as hardware stores reopened mid-month.

Meanwhile, significant declines continued across Hotels, Restaurants & Bars (-69.7%), Transport and Communication (-56.0%), Health & Education (-52.6%), and Clothing & Footwear (-37.1%) compared last year.

Visa Consumer Spending Index – Three months to May 2020

Source: Visa (note: data not adjusted for seasonality)

Back to Retail Economic News