Retail Sales Volume Up By 3.0% In February

The volume of retail sales in Ireland increased by 3.0% in February compared to February last year and there was a monthly increase of 14.9%.

This increase in the volume of retail sales is the first recorded year on year growth in retail sales since January 2008.

The year on year increase is primarily explained by the 30.5% year on year growth recorded in car sales in February.

If car sales are excluded the volume of retail sales decreased by 3.1% in February compared to February last year and the monthly change was +1.2%.

A number of sectors show year on year volume increases with the most significant being: department Stores (up 10.9%), pharmaceuticals medical and cosmetics (up 1.2%), clothing, footwear and textiles (up 1.8%), and electrical goods (up 3.5%).

The majority of sectors also showed month on month increases in the volume of sales, however the largest sector - non-specialized stores, which includes supermarkets - showed a year on year decrease of 1.7% and a month on month decline of 1.9%.

The value of retail sales decreased by 1.3% in February compared to last year and there was a monthly increase of 12.9%.

However, if car sales are excluded, the decrease in the value of retail sales was 7.4% and the monthly change was +0.1%.

With the exception of the car sales and fuel most sectors continue to show year on year decreases in the value of retail sales however a number of sectors show monthly increases in the value of retail sales in comparison to January 2010.