The latest Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker Report shows a fall in consumer confidence is likely to be responsible for British households spending 6% less on leisure during September. According to the figures, household leisure spend was down £13 to £207 in September compared to the same month last year.
The report also reveals there was a greater decline in spend among households in London and the South East than households elsewhere in Britain, down 10% and 4% respectively. Increases in living costs in London, combined with weak earnings growth in the capital, will be influencing this trend.
Eating Out was the only activity to see year-on-year growth, up £5 (7%), driven by family households who spent 29% more on this activity this year.
The run up to Christmas…
Steve Jebson, Greene King’s commercial director, said: “We have seen leisure spending dip in September compared to the same month last year, as most people are still not feeling better off as their costs continue to rise faster than their incomes, despite improvements in the economy. With the run up to Christmas, it will be interesting to see if consumers act more prudently next month.”
Commenting on the increase in Eating Out, Steve added: “Even though households are still finding it tough, it is interesting to see the continued increase in spend on Eating Out, indicating it is becoming a more common activity and less of an occasional treat. We have also seen households allocate 5% more of their total leisure spend to Eating Out compared to this time last year, further highlighting its growing importance.”
Other Leisure, which includes activities such as bowling, cinema-going and live events, showed the biggest drop of 18% year-on-year, due to warmer and drier weather giving people more reasons to spend time outside.
Key Highlights
- In September, the average British household spent £207 on total leisure, a decrease of £13 (6%) year-on-year.
- There was a greater decline in spend year-on-year for households in London and the South East, down £27 (10%), than households elsewhere where spend was down £7 (4%).
- Other Leisure was down 18% this September compared to last, due to the warmer, drier weather giving people more opportunities to spend time outside this year.
- Eating Out was the only activity to see year-on-year growth, with the average household increasing spend by £5 (7%).
- Drinking Out spending fell 6% against September last year.
Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker
- The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker is part of an omnibus questionnaire run on behalf of Greene King by research partner YouGov and analysed in conjunction with Trajectory Partnership.
- The Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker is the first of its kind in Britain and aims to provide greater insights into consumer discretionary spending.
- Focuses on spending patterns across leisure sectors such as eating out, drinking out, gambling, cinema-going, health & fitness and live events.
- Each month’s report is based on an online, nationally representative sample of c. 2,000 individuals (GB, 18+), reflecting the leisure behaviour of c. 2,000 households. Data has been collected every month since August 2013.
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