More than two million subsidised meals have been bought in Wales under the UK Government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The initiative, which ran throughout August providing half price meals, up to a value of £10 at participating pubs, restaurants and cafes, for customers, was launched in a move designed to boost the hard hit hospitality sector reeling from the impact of the pandemic.
As of August 27th, some 2, 957 outlets in Wales were signed up to the scheme.
So far a total of 2,307,000 meals have been claimed under the scheme by outlets with a subsidy value of just over £13m — providing an average discount per meal of £5.66p.
The final figure for Wales will rise as participating businesses have until September 30th to make claims to HMRC.
For the UK as whole ,as of August 31st, more than 100 million meals were eaten by diners, with the 84,700 establishments signed up to the scheme who made 130,000 claims worth £522m.
Secretary of State for Wales Simon Hart, said: "This summer diners all over Wales have enjoyed more than two million discounted meals while protecting the jobs of thousands of people who work in our fantastic hospitality sector.
"The Eat Out to Help Out scheme has been hugely important in giving businesses and customers alike the confidence to get back to enjoying the best that Wales has to offer.
“It is just one part of the UK Government’s drive to get Wales’ economy moving again which has included supporting more than 500,000 jobs, providing business loans, launching the Kickstart scheme to get young people into work and a VAT cut for the tourism and hospitality sector.”
