05 Dec 2018

Nationwide Spending Report

Nationwide’s quarterly Spending Report is an analysis of nearly 710 million Nationwide customer payment transactions. The period covered by the is report is the third quarter of 2018 (July to September), with additional consumer research looking at the upcoming Christmas period.

The report highlights that, on average, Brits spent £1,541 on essential living costs in the period, equating to some 82 per cent of the average £28,400 salary. This equates to an increase of 8.3 per cent against the same period in 2017 - or £8 in every £10.. However, while the cost of living has risen, year-on-year discretionary spending has dipped for the second consecutive period – fuelling the view that financial pressure is mounting on British consumers.

Additional research highlights attitudes toward spending at Christmas, with two thirds of Brits looking to cut back.

The key highlights of the report are:

How we pay:

  • 152% increase in the usage of mobile payments, while contactless is up 52%
  • 70 million Direct Debits made in Q3 2018, as Brits spent £11bn repaying unsecured debt, such as credit cards and loan, plus mortgage repayments and utility bills

Essential spend:

  • Average person spent £1,541 on living costs, equating to 82% of the average wage
  • Largest increases in spend on mortgage and debt repayments, where average Brit repays £623 and £455 respectively
  • One in 25 (4%) customers making repayments to a debt management company
  • £153 a month spent in supermarkets, with 64% of payments made by contactless
  • Cost of cars rises as average Brit spends £244 a month on car finance and £58 on fuel

Discretionary spend:

  • Brits forced to cut back on discretionary spend for the second quarter in a row
  • Largest decrease is on holiday spend, but many are turning to credit cards to cover
  • Generous Brits donate an average of £28 month to charity, with Cancer Research UK, RSPB and Dogs Trust their favourite charities
  • Brits spent £146 million in Q3 2018 on home improvements, with average spend of g £52 each time at DIY stores and £72 on home furnishings
  • 4.8 million transactions made to subscription media, an increase of 12 per cent on the same period last year as Brits increasingly use services such as Spotify and Netflix
  • Dip in spend happened despite period covering World Cup and school holiday period

Seasonal research:

  • Two thirds (67%) set to reduce overall spending this Christmas as the cost of living begins to eat into their ability to spend
  • Brits had average £426 debt last Christmas, taking 2.5 months on average to pay off
  • However, for a third (32%) it took up to July – seven months – to pay off the costs
  •  Children to have average of £153 spent on them as parents refuse to cut back on kids