Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour to provide nearly £1bn boost to UK economy

• Swifties attending the Eras Tour in the UK each predicted to splash out £848 on tickets, travel, accommodation, outfits, and other expenses 
• Almost 1.2m fans will catch the Superstar when Taylor Swift visits the UK this summer for 15 performances across four cities
• Eras Tour tickets sparked a 15.8 percent year-on-year increase in UK spending on entertainment when they were released last July
• The Swiftonomics report from Barclays combines hundreds of millions of customer transactions with consumer research to provide an in-depth view of Swiftie spending trends

New data from Barclays reveals that Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated Eras Tour is predicted to provide a £997m¹ boost to the UK economy, with Swifties forking out £848 on average to see their idol at one of the 15 UK tour dates.  

Brits never go out of Style

After tickets, fans will spend the most on accommodation (£121), with other notable costs including travel (£111) and clothing for the big event (£56), with almost a fifth (18 percent) buying a new outfit especially for the concert.

Meanwhile, £79 is expected to be spent on official merchandise at the tour stops in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Cardiff, as well as £59 on a pre-concert meal, boosting sales at restaurants near the tour’s venues.

Adding up the total spending for Brits on the UK leg alone – that’s 1.2 million tickets over 15 nights and four stadiums at capacity, with merchandise, outfits, food, accommodation, travel and more – the Eras Tour is expected to bring in almost £1 billion (£997m) to the UK’s experience economy.

Fans splash out on Bejeweled VIP tickets

The average amount spent on an Eras Tour ticket is £206, yet for 14 percent of fans, including those who purchased VIP ticket packages with premium seating and exclusive merchandise, the total exceeds £400.

The new figures come after Barclays Consumer Spend data revealed a surge in consumer spending during the pre-release window for the Eras Tour last July – with entertainment jumping 15.8 percent compared to July 2022. Across the whole of 2023, the entertainment sector (up 7.5 percent) was also boosted by the release of ticket sales for major events including the Eurovision Song Contest and Beyoncé’s ‘Renaissance’ tour, with spending on live shows and concerts up 8.6 percent year-on-year overall.

So Long, London – UK Swifties prepared to travel far and wide 

One in four (26 percent) Fearless fans say they had to or will have to travel to a different city in order to attend the Eras Tour, while one in five (19 percent) intend to see Swift perform in mainland Europe instead of the UK – possibly due to ticket availability, cheaper travel and accommodation costs, or simply so that they can combine the concert with holiday or city break.

Long Live the pre-show excitement

As eager fans wait to attend the live show, 28 percent have watched or plan to watch the film of the Eras Tour, while nearly one in 10 (8 percent) is either planning to host or attend a Taylor Swift-themed party before or after her show. In addition, 7 percent have even bought Taylor Swift-themed decorations to Dress up their house in Style.

Swifties have been swotting up by listening to Timeless classics as well as learning the lyrics to more recent hits. One in five (21 percent) has bought the album ‘Midnights’, and one in six (15 percent) pre-ordered the latest album ‘Tortured Poets Department’ prior to its release. A further one in six (14 percent) is so invested in Swift’s Love Story that they have even started listening to Travis Kelce’s podcast ‘New Heights’, and the same proportion (14 percent) admit to having streamed American Football games because Taylor was in the crowd.

Tom Corbett, Head of Group Sponsorship for Barclays, said: “Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is the UK’s Wildest Dreams come true – capturing the nation’s attention and bringing a substantial boost to our experience economy, with retail, hospitality and leisure sectors all Ready For It.

Fans are increasingly going all-out on experiences that resonate on a personal level, turning every concert into a potential holiday, every ticket into a cherished memory, and every event into an opportunity to splash out on new outfits, food and merchandise. The UK’s Love Story with entertainment doesn’t just involve Taylor Swift, it’s all memorable experiences.”

Dr Peter Brooks, Chief Behavioural Scientist at Barclays: “Whoever came up with the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” clearly wasn’t a Swiftie. There’s growing evidence that spending on experiences boosts happiness and well-being more so than purchasing physical items, especially if that experience is shared with friends and loved ones.

When it comes to cultural icons like Taylor Swift – like we saw with Elvis and Beatlemania in the 50s and 60s – supporters have such a strong connection to the artist and to the rest of the fandom that the desire to spend becomes even more powerful. For non-fans, £848 may seem like an enormous amount to splash out on a concert – but for Eras Tour ticketholders, every pound they spend is an investment in the memories they’ll create.”

 Image courtesy of Unsplash. Photo credit: Anthony Delanoix.

¹ Total spending calculation: 

• Total capacity of all UK Eras Tour venues: 1,175,470
  • Wembley Stadium (London): 90,000 x 8 dates = 720,000
  • Anfield Stadium (Liverpool): 54,000 x 3 dates = 162,000
  • BT Murrayfield Stadium (Edinburgh): 72,990 x 3 dates = 218,970
  • Principality Stadium (Cardiff): 74,500 x 1 date = 74,500
• Average expected spending by fans attending UK Eras Tour concerts: £848.30
• Total expected spending across all UK tour dates (1,175,470 x £848.30) = £997,151,201