According to the latest results from the CSO (28.09.16), Retail sales have decreased by 4.7% in August when compared with the previous month, however there was an increase in the volume of retails sales for the year.
Retail Sales Index
August 2016 (Provisional) July 2016 (Final)
| Seasonally Adjusted Retail Sales Index – All Businesses | ||
| (Base Year 2005 = 100) | ||
| Volume Index | Value Index | |
| August 2015 | 108.7 | 97.0 |
| July 2016 | 119.9 | 103.7 |
| August 2016 | 114.3 | 99.8 |
| Monthly % change | -4.7 | -3.7 |
| Annual % change | 5.2 | 2. |
The volume of retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) decreased by 4.7% in August 2016 when compared with July 2016 and there was an increase of 5.2% in the annual figure. (See Table 1). If Motor Trades are excluded, there was an increase of 0.9% in the volume of retail sales in August 2016 when compared with July 2016 and there was an increase of 4.1% in the annual figure. (See Table 2).
The sectors with the largest month on month volume decreases were Motor Trades (-11.1%), Bars, (-2.7%) and Department Stores (-1.1%). The sectors with the largest monthly increases were Furniture and Lighting (+8.8%), Other Retail Sales (+5.1%) and Hardware, Paints & Glass (+4.6%). (See Table 3).
There was a decrease of 3.7% in the value of retail sales in August 2016 when compared with July 2016 and there was an annual increase of 2.9% when compared with August 2015. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was no change in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 1.8%.
(Source: www.cso.ie)