British Columbians increased their spending on debit and credit cards in 2018’s second quarter by 4.6%, according to new data from Moneris.
This is the highest jump in the country and 1.3 percentage points higher than the national average increase of 3.3%.
Spending increased across all categories in B.C. The biggest jump was a 7.26% rise in spending on entertainment. This was followed by increases in household spending (up 6.23%), hotels (up 5.79%) and restaurants (up 4.29%).
Nationwide, spending is flattening, Moneris said; the 3.3% increase was the smallest quarterly growth in almost four years.
“Looking at our data from the last three years, we’ve seen tapering but steady growth across the country,” said Moneris president and CEO Angela Brown.
“This, in tandem with the Bank of Canada’s recent announcement of interest rate increases, demonstrates strength in the Canadian economy, and we anticipate stable spending growth over the coming months.”
The weakest month in the quarter was April, in which spending rose 2.9% year-over-year. This is consistent with Statistics Canada data that found retail sales fell 1.2% in the month – the biggest drop in more than two years. Sales rebounded in May and June, which saw increases of 5.9% and 3.1%, respectively.
Spending by foreign visitors increased 13% compared with the same period last year, in spite of an overall drop in travel to Canada.
@EmmaHampelBIV
