Nationwide’s latest spending report found that holidays and travel have been “driving” overall non-essential spending by consumers, despite 70 per cent being worried about finances and covering essential costs.

The building society’s research found that spending on holidays last month increased by 43% compared with the same month in 2022 to £321.5 million, while flight sales during January rose by 68% year-on-year to £82.6 million.

“Annual growth in spending on both categories demonstrates the rising cost of travelling and taking a holiday, accounting for nearly 14% of all non-essential spend,” said Nationwide in its report.

A separate survey by Nationwide found 39% of UK consumers have already booked a holiday in the UK or overseas for this year. This rises to 48% among those aged between 18 and 34, but this figure is only at 31% for the 45-54 age group.

The north-west and north-east of England are the regions where people are most likely to have already booked a break this year at 46% and 44% respectively, while those living in the south-west (31%) and Wales (35%) are the least likely to have booked a holiday so far.

Mark Nalder, payments strategy and performance director at Nationwide, said people were generally “reining in their discretionary spending” in the early weeks of 2023 with travel bucking this downward trend.

“Despite worries, the nation is preparing for warmer weather and one area of non-essential spending where there has been a significant uptick in January is holidays and travel, as people look to plan ahead and book some time away from home during this year,” added Nalder.