The Central Statistics Office has released preliminary data showing that retail sales in Ireland fell for the third consecutive month in January. Despite this, there was a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.5% in the volume of retail sales in January, a slight rise from the 0.3% gain seen in December.
Within specific categories, the most substantial monthly growth was recorded in the sales of clothing, footwear, and textiles, which jumped by 37.6%. Similarly, sales of books, newspapers, and stationery showed an upward trend with a 3.9% rise. In contrast, the most significant monthly volume decrease was seen in bar sales, plunging by 10.6%.
Looking at the annual statistics, retail sales growth maintained a steady pace of 2.7% in January. Concurrently, there was a 0.9% monthly and 5.4% yearly increase in the sales value.
