UK card spending rose 2% in July, driven by staycations, the World Cup and warm weather. Retail, hospitality and travel saw mixed trends. Barclays data shows consumer confidence at a 21-month high.
Alpha Score of 59 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, weak value, weak quality, moderate sentiment.
UK card spending rose 2% year-on-year in July, Barclays data showed, edging up from June’s 1.9% increase. The growth was still below the CPIH inflation rate of 2.8%.
Essential spending climbed 2.9%, while discretionary spending rose 1.6%. Shoppers reported growing confidence in their job security and ability to spend on non-essential items, Barclays said.
Retail spending increased 2.1%, building on June’s 1.9% rise. Warm weather lifted seasonal categories. Garden centre spending jumped 4%, clothing sales rose 2% and electronics were up 1.3%. One in five consumers said they had bought lighter summer clothing because of the heatwave.
Hospitality and leisure spending rose 2.2% as a busy summer of sport and entertainment pulled in customers. Pubs and clubs recorded a 7.4% increase in spending. Transaction volumes surged 10% as England’s World Cup run drew people to watch matches. Cinemas reported a 2.6% uplift following releases including Toy Story 5 and The Odyssey. Digital content and subscription spending rose 7.7%.
Travel spending slipped 0.3% year-on-year, its fifth straight monthly decline, as consumers chose domestic breaks over overseas trips. Airline spending fell 6%, and public transport dropped 5.4%. Hotels, resorts and accommodation grew 2.6%, and travel agent spending rose 2.5%, Barclays said, suggesting holidaymakers were still prioritising UK staycations.
Consumer confidence improved. Confidence in the strength of the UK economy climbed six percentage points to 30%, its highest level in 21 months. Confidence in the European economy rose six points to 35%, the highest since Barclays began tracking the measure in 2015. Confidence in job security edged up to 47% from 46%, and confidence in the ability to spend on non-essentials increased to 53% from 51%.
Barclays head of spend insights Rohan Kumar said: “Card spending strengthened further in July, reaching its highest level for 12 months, with both essential and non-essential spend remaining in growth. Multiple factors played a part, with UK staycations, continued warm weather and England’s World Cup run lifting spending on travel, hospitality, everyday essentials and seasonal retail categories.”
The data also showed growing use of artificial intelligence for planning and budgeting. Nearly half of UK adults, 48%, said they had used AI for planning or budgeting, up from 35% in July last year. Among Gen Z consumers, the figure rose to 78%, up nine percentage points year-on-year.
Barclays BCS shares reflect the broader trend in consumer spending data. For more on how spending patterns affect equities, see AlphaScala’s stock market analysis.
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