Regional trend: the population spends more abroad than at home

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 05. 06. 12:15

The value of foreign purchases continues to grow more dynamically than domestic ones, driven by the expansion of online transactions. During a single purchase, the population of the countries studied – Hungary, Croatia, Austria and Poland – spends more abroad than domestically, and while the basket value of foreign transactions is already on a decreasing trend in Austria, this is true for domestic purchases in Hungary.

The growth rate of the value of domestic card transactions decreased in the second half of 2024 in all of the countries studied compared to the first half of the year. However, the same showed an increase in foreign spending (except for Poland). For example, in Hungary, the value of domestic transactions increased by 5.1% in euros in the second half of the year, while that of foreign transactions increased by 30.3%. We also see similar trends in the number of transactions. In 2024 as a whole, the value of all card transactions in euros increased by 8.6% in Hungary (12.5% without the effect of the forint depreciation), within which the value of domestic physical purchases increased the least (5.2%), while foreign online purchases increased the most (32.1%), but in Poland, for example, the value of domestic online purchases increased the most (32.8%), which may be due to the domestic market being in a more mature stage and having larger domestic players.

Looking at longer-term trends, the value of foreign card purchases continues to grow well above the average quarterly growth rate before the Covid period in all four countries examined. Domestic transactions also show a similar picture in Austria and Croatia, while in Poland and Hungary the growth rate of this segment slowed down compared to before Covid.