• Fresh data from Global Blue reveals that the worldwide year-on-year variation in Tax Free Shopping growth remains positive across Continental Europe and Asia Pacific.

• Globally, when analyzing the year-on-year variation in Tax Free Shopping growth, the issued Sales in Store like-for-like year-on-year performance reached +25%¹ in July 2024 vs. +41%¹ in Q2 (April – June 2024).

A sustained performance in Continental Europe for international shopping

In Continental Europe, the issued Sales in Store growth rate grew by +12%¹ in July 2024 vs. last year. This growth was led by a +10%¹ increase in the number of shoppers and a +2%¹ average spend per shopper.

The deceleration in July’s growth rate (+12% in July vs. +19% in Q2) is largely due to France (-2% in July vs. +10% in Q2), where, as expected, the pre-Olympic Games preparations and restrictions had a negative impact on activity in Paris.

Regarding origin markets, the positive momentum in issued Sales in Store growth is evident across all nationalities. Mainland Chinese Tax Free Spend led with +33%¹ vs. last year, a slight acceleration compared with the +31%¹ progression in Q2. US Tax Free Spend saw a +15%¹ increase, boosted by an increase of +20% in shoppers, while GCC shoppers experienced a +7%¹ growth rate vs. 2023.

When examining destination markets, July showed a positive performance across most destinations, with Spain at +25%¹, Italy at +19%¹, Germany at +10%¹ and France at -2%¹.

A positive Tax Free spend progression in Asia Pacific

In Asia Pacific, the issued Sales in Store growth rate continues to remain very high, reaching +64%¹ in July 2024, led by a +49%¹ increase in the number of shoppers and a +10%¹ average spend per shopper.

The deceleration in July’s growth rate (+64% in July vs. +109% in Q2) is partly due to a stronger basis of comparison in July 2023 vs. Q2’23 and the recent strengthening of the Yen against all major currencies, particularly against the Chinese RMB.

Regarding origin markets, the positive momentum in issued Sales in Store growth continued across all nationalities. Mainland Chinese Tax Free Spend led with +97%¹ boosted by an increase of +107% of Mainland Chinese shoppers. In the meantime, North-East Asia Tax Free Spend grew by +76%¹ vs. 2023 and Hong Kong and Taiwan Tax Free Spend experienced a +60%¹ growth rate vs. 2023.

When examining destination markets, July showed a positive performance across most destinations, with Japan +103%¹, South Korea at +44%¹, and Singapore at -9%¹.

Worldwide Year-on-Year Growth Rate (2024 vs. 2023)

Worldwide recovery rate (versus 2019) rate

APPENDIX

GLOSSARY

- European Non-EU countries include: Shoppers who can reach destination by land transportation or less than a two hour flight. Ex: Swiss, British, Ukraine etc.

- Gulf Cooperation Council countries include: Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman

- North East Asia countries includes: Japan, South Korea

- South East Asia countries includes: Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore

ABOUT GLOBAL BLUE

Global Blue is the business partner for the shopping journey, providing technology and services to enhance the experience and drive performance.

With over 40 years of expertise, today we connect thousands of retailers, acquirers, and hotels with nearly 80 million consumers across 53 countries, in three industries: Tax Free Shopping, Payments and Post-Purchase solutions.

With over 2,000 employees, Global Blue generated €28bn Sales in Store and €422M revenue in FY 2023/24. Global Blue is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit www.globalblue.com

Global Blue Monthly Intelligence Briefing, July 2024, Source: Global Blue

¹ Growth rate variation year-on-year (2024 vs. the same period in 2023)

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