Overview
- Bank of America card data in August showed hobby spending rose 7.9% year over year while hobby transactions grew 3.4%, indicating consumers are spending more per purchase.
- The Bank of America Institute calls the trend “funflation,” saying arts and crafts stores, hobby shops and outdoor recreation retailers are charging more for goods and services tied to hobbies.
- Rising out-of-home costs are a key driver, with airline fares up 23.4% year over year, national average gas prices about 30% higher, and food away from home up 3.4%, according to the CPI and AAA.
- Generational patterns differ: older millennials spend the most per customer, likely in part because of children, while Gen Z shows near-zero hobby transaction growth but a marked increase in gaming spending.
- The rebound reverses a decline that ran through late 2024 and could shift how households allocate leisure budgets and how retailers position products, though the card-data measure does not capture the entire hobby economy.