Retail Sales Volume Decreased By 3.5% In July

The volume of retail sales decreased by 3.5% in July 2008 compared to July 2007. There was a monthly increase of 2.3%.

The monthly increase is primarily attributed to an increase in the Motor Trade Sector for July 2008. The improved Motor Trade figures in July coincided with the introduction of the new VRT tax system.

If Motor Trades are excluded there was an annual decrease of 5.2% and the monthly change was -1.7%. This is the largest annual decrease since April 1988 when the annual decrease was 5.5%.

The value of retail sales decreased by 0.5% in July 2008 compared to July 2007 and increased by 1.8% in the month. However, if Motor Trades are excluded, the annual decrease was 1.9% and the monthly change was down 1.9%.

June 2008 is the latest month for which final detailed figures are available. The three-months from April 2008 to June 2008 volume figures show that, compared with the three months ending March 2008 all sectors declined with the largest decrease in the Motor Trades sector, which was down 5.9%.