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| Source: CSO |
In Quarter 2 2009, the CSO's Quarterly National Household Survey included questions on the cross-border shopping behaviour of households in the State. Some 44% bought alcohol. About €435m was spent in shopping trips to the North in the year up to July 2009.
The CSO report says:
- 44% of households bought Alcohol on their most recent trip
- 42% bought Clothing and Durables
- 26% bought Cosmetics
- 19% had expenditure on ‘Other’ shopping
Also today, the chairman of the Irish Brewers Association (IBA), David Forde, said that the huge surge in shoppers from the South travelling North to purchase beer is endangering the livelihood of all those who depend on the country’s indigenous brewing sector.
The growth in cross-border sales comes against the backdrop of a decade of falling beer consumption, with the beer market itself experiencing declines of over 25% in that period.
Forde was speaking as new figures from the TNS Worldpanel UK retail survey, found that on an average cross-border shopping trip, consumers purchase two and a half times more beer than when they shop locally. Accordingly, Forde called on the Government to reduce our excise rates by 20% in next Wednesday’s Budget to restore competitiveness with beer on sale in Northern Ireland.
He commented, “In the build-up to Christmas the focus has been thrust on the major increase in cross-border shopping that has grown steadily over the last 18 months, but is now reaching a crescendo. Alcohol is a clear driver of this trade, largely in part to the significant savings that can be made as a result of the lower UK excise regime, exacerbated by the Sterling/Euro price differential.
“The best means of addressing the price difference and to begin to repatriate some of the revenue that we are losing to Northern Ireland is to reduce our high excise rates. Ireland has the second highest beer tax in Europe. It is three times higher than that of Denmark and four times higher than that of the Netherlands.
“Just like other alcohol categories, most of the selling price of beer in the off-trade consists of excise duty and VAT. Taxation makes up over 43% of a price of a 50cl can in the Republic of Ireland.
“Reducing excise will help support the Irish brewing industry that adds €1.7bn in value to the Irish economy. We directly employ over 2,000 people and are responsible for 52,400 indirect jobs, including 44,000 in the hospitality industry. Our products generate over €1 billion in VAT and excise duties for the State. €416 million in income-related taxes is raised through beer production.
“What is more, over 40% of Irish beer is exported. In order to sustain a vibrant export sector it is vital that the domestic market for our products is supported."
16% of households made at least one shopping trip to Northern Ireland in the 12 months before the Quarter 2 2009 survey. The highest proportion of households who shopped in Northern Ireland was recorded in the Border region (41%). Among the other regions, the highest proportions were in the Mid-East (22%), Dublin (21%), Midland (18%) and West (14%).
Households from the Border region who shopped in Northern Ireland made an average of 14 trips in the 12 months before the interview.
About a third (34%) of all households who shopped in Northern Ireland were from the Dublin region.
Total household expenditure on shopping in Northern Ireland between Quarter 2 2008 and Quarter 2 2009 was €435 million. Households spent an average of €286 on shopping on their most recent trip to Northern Ireland. Households spent most on Groceries, with an average of €114 spent on the most recent trip.
Almost one in ten households (9%) said that they shopped in Northern Ireland more frequently in the 12 months before the interview than they had in previous years. One in five households in the Border region shopped more in the 12 months before the interview than they had in previous years.
