At a glance: The average UK consumer in June ‘25
Whilst we often try to understand the shifts in spending patterns through the lens of wider economic, political and social developments which consciously or unconsciously shape consumer behaviour, in June the biggest news story must be the weather. It’s very British, and as the countless conversations you have had with colleagues can testify there is no ignoring the scorching heat, as one might a new trade deal with Taiwan. At risk of turning into a meteorological blog, it is worth underlining that the month was the hottest June on record and the second hottest month since tracking began way back in 1884 – so any moaning was justified.
Whilst the temperatures soared consumer spending cooled slightly in June as outgoings declined -0.6% from May to an average of £2,459 per person, with a contraction particularly seen on non-essential spend which declined -2%. However, when we take broader perspective and compare this performance to the last 2 years we find that spending in June has typically seen much greater seasonal declines of between -4 and – 7% following consumer splurging across the bank holidays of April & May. This year bucked the trend as a result of strong year over year growth of +10.5% versus 2024, which isn’t simply due to rising prices as we saw non essential spend rise +9.7% thanks largely to +8% more transactions as consumers shop around and indulge more often.
This growth year over year is driven in part by an increased consumer focus on in-person experiences with a double digit growth in spend across both Leisure and Entertainment (+15.4%) and Travel (+12.3%). The extra £1.5bn that Britons invested in these areas shows that there is still an appetite for indulgence which provides the opportunity for connection, celebration, and creating lasting memories. Travel & Holiday saw the greatest increase in cost per transaction of any category +6.4%, as consumers splash out on more premium experiences and costs to many popular summer destinations such as Spain, Greece & Turkey continue to rise.
This performance continues to shine the light on shifting consumer behaviour and their prioritisation of spend on areas with the greatest happiness dividend. It is a stark contrast with the experience of Hospitality which saw relatively flat growth +0.7% versus last year as rising costs weaken the value proposition for consumers, and Pubs cycle the impact of Euro 2024 with spend down -5.2%. Consumers are spending more (+8.7%) and visiting Grocery stores more often (+4.8%) indicating more people are opting to dine and drink at home.
Hot weather increases focus on Brits’ furry friends
As any pet owner will know, it’s not just us humans that can really suffer from the warmer weather. The heatwave in June appears to have brought even greater attention and concern for pets with Pet Store sales growing +3% as owners seek out toys, gadgets and apparel that can help. In addition, the +6% growth for Pet Insurance suggests that the heat may have served as a call to action for more households to ensure their pets are covered for potential seasonal challenges such as heatstroke. In addition, many Britons may have welcomed new members to their households after the bank holidays and in preparation for the summer.
In previous months we have seen consumers pivot their spending habits to adjust for rising costs and so it is perhaps unsurprising that Charities (-7%) is one category which has been feeling the pinch with three successive months of spend declines exceeding -6%, and year over year growth behind inflation. This has impacted a broad range of charities including donation sites such as GoFundMe (-27%), The British Heart Foundation (-28%), and Age UK (-9%). The decline in spend is far exceeding the drop in customer or transaction numbers which indicates that the core charitable audience continues to donate, but in smaller amounts. The average UK donor has a small repertoire of 1.5 charities a month making it difficult for a new charity to break into a donor’s repertoire and the focus should be on protecting donation amounts for existing or lapsed donors.
Direct Hotel bookings saw a significant softening of demand in June as spend slid -14% in June and -3.3% versus last year. The sharpest declines have come amongst the popular family getaway destinations including Parkdean Resorts (-28%), Haven Holidays (-20%), Center Parcs (-6%), and Butlins (-5%). Whilst there is a seasonal element resulting from the booking cycle in contrast to Airlines, which saw a -15% decline in June, the year over year slump in demand for Hotels indicates a shift in consumer behaviour. It may reflect the diminishing affordability of staycations and weekend getaways, consumers seeking out the best deals via booking sites, or more consumers opting to stay at home and focusing on the occasional day trip.
With household budgets very much front of mind it is interesting to observe how consumers are managing their cash and outgoings across Finance & Insurance categories. Credit Card, Personal Loan, and Buy Now Pay Later payments exceeded £17.5bn in June representing 13.8% of total household outgoings, up from 12.9% a year earlier. This means the average consumer is spending £340 on paying off their credit and debt, an additional £50 a month compared to last year, which could increase default risk and stunt consumption. To take a more positive view the significant rise in Personal Loans (+22%) could indicate that consumers are feeling more confident to take on major projects or purchases such as home refurbishment.
Shining a spotlight on Gambling & Betting

Gambling & Betting was propelled to growth thanks to the blockbuster Euromillions jackpots that exceeded £200m for 5 successive draws in the first half of June. The numbers of weekly National Lottery players hit a 12 month high of 7.8m as the news and social buzz hooked in new and infrequent players. The number of players more than halved from its peak after the jackpot was won, underlining the hook of these headline grabbing prizes.
Bookmakers such as Bet365 and SkyBet have been particularly hit hard in June following the end of the Premier League season as customer numbers dropped c.-19% and -18% respectively from May. The drop in customer numbers considerably exceeded the drop in spend, indicating that the decline in customer numbers reflected the loss of seasonal and lower value players. William Hill and Ladbrokes Coral fared better and benefitted from 2 premier horse racing events in June – with the Grand National attracting the most attention, a week which saw the UK’s 5 biggest bookmakers rake in more than £168m.
Highest earning Britons balance wealth building and indulgence
The over £60k bracket was the only income segment that recorded an increase in spend in June (+1.8%), as well as seeing the fastest growth year over year (+14.3%), as their average monthly outgoings reached £4,951. This was driven in large part by greater spend allocations to the Finance & Insurance (+5.6%) categories and specifically with a focus on Savings & Investments (+45.9%). This focus on wealth accretion is balanced with a healthy appetite for consumption meaning that there is still a strong opportunity for brands at the top end of the market to encourage the UK’s highest earners to treat themselves.
We saw a highly differentiated picture across the UK. Whilst all regions continue to report a strong growth in average monthly spend year over year ranging from +12.6% in the North West to +6.6% in the East Midlands, in the short term spend dropped in 7 of the 12 UK regions. This drop off in spend was most dramatic in the East Midlands -6.5% and Northern Ireland -7.8%, which rank as 2 of the 3 lowest spending regions and saw the softest year over year growth in demand. This could indicate that consumers in these areas may be most impacted by rising costs and provide the greatest challenge for brands to engage.
The hot weather has been most successful in stimulating demand amongst the youngest consumer segment 18 – 34 where spend has grown +19.7% versus last year. In spite of their lower spending power and the rising costs Hospitality demand proves most resilient with this age group and shows green shoots as spend grew +3.2% versus last year. The cost of a pint appears to provide a barrier with Bars & Pubs declining, but there is healthy demand for Low Cost Restaurants and fast food.
3 things i’m keeping an eye out for in July:
- Feeling hot, hot, hot. Whether in sunny Spain or Costa del Clapham the warm weather and end of the school terms will get Britons in the holiday spirit and provide a boost to non-essential spending.
- Restaurants & Pubs see a break in the clouds. Even the recent gloom in the on-premise sector should be overcome by the holiday atmosphere and leisure focus brought around in July. Euro 2025 and the Lionesses continued tournament success should help get bums on seats and pints in hand.
- Early signs of a housing rebound. We will start to see the lag impact of declining interest rates as it increases the affordability for first time buyers as well as renewals leading to an increase in borrowing and spending across homewares.
Do you have any questions, thoughts or want to get a deeper insight into consumer confidence as we enter the summer? If so, please reach out and we can take a deeper look into how consumer mindsets are evolving.
Introducing our Consumer Mindset Tracker
Our Consumer Mindset Tracker is released in the first half of every month. The purpose is to leverage the wealth of open-banking data that powers our Spendmapper platform to get a clear picture of how consumer spending behaviour is evolving in the UK. This can help us get an insight into consumer confidence, reactions to societal, economic, or seasonal events, and how this ultimately shapes the opportunity available for brands and can inform their marketing strategies.
What powers our Spendmapper platform?
Our Spendmapper platform, developed in collaboration with award-winning consumer app Snoop, utilises open-banking data which provides visibility of the spending behaviours of over £10bn of UK consumer spend across more than 3,000 of the UK’s biggest merchants within a broad range of categories including Retail, Finance, and Household Bills. Our starting point is the consumer which means that we get a holistic 360° view on how they are managing their household spend, indulging or cutting back across categories, and the retailers that sit in their repertoires.