There was an increase of 1.5% in the value and volume of retail sales in September 2018 when compared with August 2018, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
CSO figures also revealed that seasonally adjusted value and volume sales increased by 5.9% and 6.5% respectively compared to September 2017.
The value of Food, Beverage and Tobacco sales increased by 6.5%, the third highest monthly increase after Electrical Goods, 7.5%, and Hardware, Paints and Glass, 6.6%.
Volume sales for the industry increased by 6.6% for the month, third in the same order behind Electrical Goods, 9.3%, and Hardware, Paints and Glass, 7%.
Seasonally adjusted, value and volume sales for Food, Beverage and Tobacco sales increased by 7.5% and 9.9% respectively.
Greater Retail Sales
Sales growth for the greater retail sector was mainly offset by weak performances in Department Stores, which saw a value decrease of 4.4% for September, and 0.3 for the year.
Volume sales for the sector dropped by 4.2% for September, but compared to the same month the previous year volume sales saw an increase of 2.2%.
Excluding volatile motor trades, the total value of retail sales for all businesses combined increased by 2.5% on the previous period, and total volume sales increased by 2.8%.
For the year, value sales and volume sales increased by 5.5% and 6.3% gains respectively.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
