Denmark: New restrictions may dampen spending in coming weeks
|Danish card and MobilePay spending in September, up to and including 14 September, showed spending around normal levels. With cash spending still below last year's level, spending is around 3% lower than normal. However, strong car sales indicate good consumer activity in Denmark.
In retail, the first week of September showed some weakness, with spending in clothing and shoe stores declining last week.
Home improvement spending also weakened, along with spending in furniture stores. However, we expect these to increase in October, as we believe the payout of potentially over DKK30bn in holiday back pay to Danish consumers is likely to lift consumption in these categories significantly in Q4.
Spending in restaurants declined last week, driven largely by weaker spending in bars and nightclubs, as opening hours were restricted again. As further restrictions on opening hours – not only for bars and nightclubs but also for more traditional restaurants – will take effect this week in some urban areas, we expect to see a noticeable weakening.
Travel-related spending remains very low at around 75% below normal levels. We do not see any indication of increased travel activity in the autumn.
As more Danes are working from home and more restrictions are imposed on restaurants and nightlife, we expect spending to come down over coming days and weeks. However, we do not expect anywhere near the same effects as in lockdown.
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