Britons just want to have fun, reveals research

Research from the Payments Council, called the Way We Pay 2010, showed almost a fifth of total spend (18 per cent) is now on fun activities, which is equivalent to more than 30 a week for every adult.

The biggest increase has been in restaurants, up more than threefold to 30bn in 2009, but pub and wine bar spending has also rocketed to 23bn from less than 10bn 10 years ago.

And the report found holidaymakers are splashing out more and indulging themselves while on trips abroad, with spending up 89 per cent to 32bn last year.

But the study also showed spending has soared on less enjoyable outgoings as well, with mortgage commitments tripling to 79bn between 1999 and 2009 as house prices raced higher over the noughties.

Council tax and utility costs have also increased above inflation, according to the report.

Wages are likewise being stretched to cover new regular costs, such as payment for internet access, with spend on that service increasing tenfold since 1999 to 2.9bn.

Childcare is another high spend area, up to 3.5bn in total last year.

The Council added that its figures showed the supermarket sector had increased its "stranglehold on our wallets", taking 55p in every 1 spent in shops last year. This was up from 48p in 1999.

In a further sign of their dominance of the retail industry, the study reported that supermarkets took 18.4bn of spend that would otherwise have gone to other retailers – around 369 per adult each year.

They also appeared to have cornered the petrol market, with 15.9bn spent on supermarket forecourts in 2009, which is 500m more than in regular filling stations.