After losing out on a nearly two years of ‘going out to dinner’, Canadians are playing catch up.
A report from the economists at RBC Royal Bank tracks spending last month and it turns out we are enjoying our restaurant visits. Total dining-out expenditures in June rose 30 per cent compared to levels seen before the pandemic.
Now, some of this increase is no doubt related to inflation. The price of a dining experience has gone up but so have groceries and we are actually spending less in food stores. So, clearly we are taking the opportunity to go out for a meal more frequently.
Inflation was also evident in spending patterns at the gas station. No surprise here as fuel prices were still on their upward trajectory a month ago, but we are not cutting back on our vehicle travel either. On average we shelled out $60 per fill-up in June compared to $57 in May.
In fact, our habits are not changing as spending in June was comparable to May — roughly 30 per cent higher than before the pandemic.
