British household leisure spend fell for the second consecutive month, the latest Greene King Leisure Spend Tracker reports. Total leisure spend fell 10% during October, compared to the same month last year, to £188, as Brits held back spending in the lead up to Christmas.
This decline was driven by Other Leisure, the leisure category that includes live events, bowling and gym membership, which was down 22% year-on-year. All households across all regions have cut back on Other Leisure spend in an attempt to alleviate pressure on their finances.
Eating Out, on the other hand, was relatively stable as households appear reluctant to cut back on this spending. It was the only activity to see year-on-year growth, up £2 (2%). This was driven by family households and households outside London and the South East whose spending was up by 5% and 25% respectively.
Consumer confidence still fragile
Steve Jebson, Greene King’s commercial director, said: “It has been another tough month for leisure spend, falling 10% compared to October last year. With Christmas just around the corner, Brits yet again limited their leisure spend last month. And, with consumer confidence still fragile, it is not surprising that many are hesitant to loosen the purse strings.”
Key Highlights
- In October, the average British household spent £188 on total leisure, a decrease of £21 (10%) year-on-year.
- Other Leisure spend led the decline, down £19 (22%) against the same month last year.
- Households in London and the South East reduced spend on out of home leisure by £39 (16%) , which was considerably more than elsewhere in Britain down £14 (7%) respectively.
- Eating Out was the only activity to see year-on-year growth, with the average household increasing spend by £2 (2%).
- Drinking Out spending fell 8% compared to last year.
- A special Christmas report has revealed that, on average, Brits plan to spend less on gifts as well as food and drink consumed out of the home this festive season, compared to last year.
Regional spend
Commenting on regional Total Leisure spend, Steve continued: “We saw that households in London and the South East reduced their spend more than elsewhere – down 16% compared to 7% in the rest of Britain. This could be due to the recent slowdown in the London property market, which may have temporarily hit the confidence of households in the capital. But, London and the South East still remains the biggest spending region with £214 spent on total leisure in October, over 21% more than the average for the rest of GB.”
Festive spending plans
To gauge how consumers are feeling about their leisure spending in the lead up to Christmas, Greene King asked whether they intend to spend more or less this festive season. The report reveals that more Brits plan to spend less on Christmas presents, and on eating and drinking out, compared to last year.
Steve explains: “We found that 26% of Brits plan to spend less on Christmas gifts this year, compared to 17% who plan to spend more. This trend is also reflected in the amount expected to be spent on eating and drinking out, with 27% intending to spend less and 15% who expect to spend more. However, there was greater balance in projected spend on food and drink in the home, with 21% planning to spend more versus 20% who intend to spend less.”
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.
- It 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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