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The surge in cross-border shopping was worth £700 million to the Northern Ireland economy last year, according to figures published yesterday.
The windfall was largely thanks to the estimated 250,000 households in the Republic that now regularly do their grocery shopping in the north, where centres like Newry, Derry and Enniskillen are the biggest beneficiaries.
The figures are contained in the latest Consumer Market Monitor from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and the Marketing Institute of Ireland (MII).
The growing northwards migration cost the Republic's exchequer EUR810m (£700m) last year - the equivalent of 3.5 per cent of the Republic's entire retail market - according to the report.
The monitor predicts a fall of 10 per cent in spending this year due to a further decline in disposable income.
"The Consumer Market Monitor has brought to light some important consumer shifts, notably that people are voting with their feet in search of better value for money in the north," Mary Lambkin, professor of marketing at the Smurfit school said.
"This mass exodus reflects a more consumer-savvy population and the need for retailers in the Republic to compete with rock-bottom prices on offer just over the border."
Among other key findings in the report were:
- new car sales in the Republic plunged by 62.8 per cent to just 54,432 vehicles - worse than any other region in the world
- worst-hit sectors in the 12 months to November were department stores (down 22 per cent), books and newspapers (16 per cent), clothing/footwear (15 per cent) and pubs (13 per cent).
- There was a 52 per cent slump in the number of new loans for home purchases between quarters one of 2008 and 2009, which is traditionally the peak season for residential property sales.
"A positive from the report is that retailers perceive the rate of decline is slowing and that there could potentially be a return to growth by the third quarter of this year," MII chief executive Tom Trainor said.
