Spain | Impact of COVID-19 on consumption in real time and high frequency: 2 July

The recovery in consumption continued during the week of 22nd to 28th June. The fall in card spending moderated to -2% year-on-year, despite the 5% increase in purchases with Spanish cards. Although consumption with foreign cards improved, it still fell by -73% compared to the same period last year.

Key points

• Key points:
• The provinces that were pioneers in reaching phase 3 of the de-escalation process continued to show greater dynamism. Spending with Spanish cards grew 7% year-on-year in the week 22-28 June, compared to 4% in the remaining provinces.
• Purchases increased in 48 provinces, and the increase was over 10% year-on-year in 27. They only decreased in Huelva, Madrid, Castellón and the Balearic Islands. All provinces have now recovered the level of weekly spending with Spanish cards prior to the health crisis.
• However, despite the dynamism of purchases since mid-May, the contraction in the second quarter is significant. Between April and June, spending with Spanish cards fell by -18% compared to the first quarter. The quarterly decline fluctuated between -32% in Madrid and -5% in Tarragona.
• The food sector continued to lead the recovery in face-to-face spending last week (43% year-on-year), accompanied by household equipment (23%), health (16%) and other services (13%). The fall in spending on accommodation began to moderate with the new normality.
• The evolution of e-commerce is heterogeneous by sector. Reduced demand for accommodation and travel explains the decline in online spending, despite double-digit growth in the other sectors and the more recent improvement in leisure and transport.

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