Consumer spending in the EU grows further

Despite the uncertainty of the European economy, EU countries recorded a 2.5% year-on-year growth in consumer spending in Q2 2011. This is the seventh consecutive quarter of consumer spending increase in Europe, shows data of Visa Europe’s EU Consumer Spending Barometer. The company reported that growth in consumption was also 2.5% during Q1 2011. Thus, the results for the first six months of the year have set a record for the last five years. However, Visa experts say that the recent events across the EU could mean a gloomier outlook for the rest of the year. Although consumer spending levels have increased for seventh straight quarters, the largest growth in Q2 2011 is accounted for by households in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

In contrast, the major European economies reported more modest growth. In France, for example, the increase was 2.6%, while in Germany it was just 3.4%. Spain offered a surprise with a stronger than expected increase of 4.3%. Consumers in the EU currently troubled ‘peripheral’ countries, including Portugal and Ireland, saw consumer spending contract. Greece registered no change in spending levels in Q2 2011, explained by experts by the year-long period of austerity.

According to the Barometer, card payments on the part of citizens have increased, with €1 for every €8 spent in Europe on a Visa card. Spending on all Visa cards in the 27 EU member-states continued to rise at a double-digit pace of 13.4% in Q2 2011, with a total of €254 bn spent over the three month period.

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