British households spending on credit and debit cards rose to 88% of its pre-pandemic average in the week to April 1, up by 10 percentage points from the previous week, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.
“This increase was partly driven by the usual increase in ‘staples’ (essential goods such as food and utilities) seen around the turn of the month, as well as a continued increase since early 2021 in the value of CHAPS payments received by large UK corporates,” the ONS said.
