August was the busiest month for Irish restaurants in 2023, according to new research from AIB.
The data was compiled from over 800 million card transactions carried out by AIB customers – in store and online – from January to November 2023 and has been anonymised and aggregated.
Spending In Pubs
The report shows that bank holiday weekends are big drivers of spending in pubs.
The busiest day for pubs was St Patrick’s Day, 17 March (+218% of the daily average), followed by Sunday 29 October (+156% of the daily average) and Sunday 6 August (+152% of the daily average).
According to the data, men spent more than women in pubs (67% men, 33% women).
Holiday Season
Earlier this month, AIB released figures from 2022, which showed that the busiest day of the holiday season for pubs was Friday 23 December, with €5.2 million spent in total.
The next-busiest day for pubs was Saturday 17 December (€4.8 million), followed by New Year’s Eve (€4.3 million).
Top Spenders
The AIB Year in Review Spend Trend shows that the top three counties for daily spending were Wicklow (€26.13), Meath (€26.02) and Kildare (€25.94).
The lowest-spending counties were Donegal (€20.18), Leitrim (€21.57) and Monaghan (€22.28).
People from Wicklow had the highest average daily spend, while people from Donegal had the lowest.
‘Strong Performances’
“[The year] 2023 has seen strong performances for many sectors, and it’s great to see the resilience of businesses that faced their fair share of challenges this year, from cost-of-living pressures to severe weather events and a wet summer,” said John Brennan, AIB’s head of SME banking.
“December is set to be a busy month for retail and hospitality, meaning many businesses will finish the year out strong.”
