Older consumers more likely than average to spend money on gardening and home improvement than on drinking in pubs.
Research conducted by market intelligence company Key Note, revealed that 52.9% of over 45s are willing to regularly spend money on their garden.

Spending peaked among those aged 55 to 64, with 60% of respondents in this age group saying that gardening was a regular expenditure item.

This compared with just 24.7% of over 45s who admit to regularly spending money on drinking in pubs. However, more than half of respondents in this age group were often likely to splash out on eating out.

Home improvement was also a popular pastime among the over 45s, with 44% saying they frequently spent money on doing up their homes. Although just over half of these respondents were under 65, 31.4% admitted to spending on home improvement regularly.

According to the most recent population projections from the Government Actuary Department, there will be 27.3m adults aged over 45 in the UK by mid-2013, compared with 25.4m in mid-2008.

Key Note suggests that "older consumers tend to have more leisure time than younger ones, as well as having a generally higher disposable income" and "are fitter and healthier than ever" - all of which are likely to benefit leisure, travel, and home-related markets.