Sporting events and warmer weather, easing of restrictions and major sporting events saw more Brits socialise and set off on staycations.
New figures from from Barclaycard showed spending on essential items grew 14.7% – the sharpest rise since before the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
This was driven by strong uplifts in supermarket shopping (19%) and spending at specialist food and drink stores (76.4%).
Non-essential items rose 9.4%, the biggest growth in non-essential spend since the onset of COVID. This was boosted by the eating and drinking category, which grew 36.7% compared with the same period in 2019, while also representing a strong month-on-month uplift, up 2.5% in May 2021.
Meanwhile, spending at bars and pubs grew for the first time since September last year, rising 38% as the nation flocked to pubs and beer gardens to watch key sporting…
