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12 March 2015 09:32
UK households are spending more on hotels and eating out
Britons are spending more of their money on staying in hotels, drinking in bars and eating out, whether they are on holiday or not, a new study shows.
According to Visa Europe's UK Expenditure Index, the amount of money families and households spent on activities like these in February was 9% higher than it was 12 months ago.
Another important expense people should factor in when going on holiday is travel insurance, in case they become ill or are injured abroad.
The index looks at a wide variety of categories of spending, and the largest increase among them related to the cash spent in hotels, bars and restaurants.
February also saw a 1.1% lift in spending on recreational and cultural activities, the first annual increase for six months.
There were also sizeable increases in expenditure on other categories between last month and a year ago, including household goods (3.6%), food, drink and tobacco (2.7%), and transport and communication (0.8%).
The share of transactions made online rose annually for the first time in four months in February.
People spent 0.8% more money over the internet last month than they did a year ago.
However, face-to-face spending also rose in both January and February compared to 2014, with 1.5% extra business done last month.
Visa Europe's report suggests falling inflation has led to more spending at the start of 2015, as people have more money in their pockets.
Inflation fell to a new record low in January thanks to supermarket price wars and the low cost of oil, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In December, the Consumer Prices Index was at 0.5% but it fell to 0.3% in January, and some experts predict that Britain could see a period of deflation before the figure heads upwards again.
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