Spain | Impact of COVID-19 on consumption in real time and high definition

Summary

De-escalation has moderated the reduction in consumption. The fall in card spending, which was more than -60% year-on-year in mid-April, slowed to -13% in the first week of June due to the more favourable trend in purchases with Spanish cards.

Key points

• Key points:
• Spanish card spending slowed down in provinces that reached phase 2 on June 1st, but lost momentum in those that started phase 2 on May 25th and compounded their decline in those that remained in phase 1.
• Spending increased in 29 provinces in the week of June 1-7 compared to the same period in 2019.
• Food share in card spending has tripled since the declaration of the state of alarm to account for half of face-to-face consumption. In contrast, fashion, bars and restaurants, transport and travel have lost relevance.
• During the period of confinement, cash withdrawals fell less than card purchases. As de-escalation progresses, the ratio of cash withdrawals to card purchases returns to the figures of the beginning of the year.
• The change of phase does not seem to explain the differential evolution of cash withdrawals: provinces in phase 2 already had a better evolution of withdrawals than those in phase 1 before the phase jump.

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