Business

Value of retail sales up 1.5% in May compared to last year

Monthly volume decreases were recorded in clothing, footwear and textiles, as well as in motor trades

CSO data shows the volume of retail sales fell by 0.6% in May when compared with April on a seasonally adjusted basis

Colin Gleeson
Fri Jun 28 2024 - 12:11

The value of retail sales fell by 2 per cent in May compared to April, but rose by 1.5 per cent compared with a year earlier, data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows.

The data also shows the volume of retail sales fell by 0.6 per cent in May when compared with April on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis retail volumes were 1 per cent lower than a year earlier.

The sectors showing the highest annual volume growth were books, newspapers and stationery (8.1 per cent); clothing, footwear and textiles (4.9 per cent); followed by bars (4.5 per cent).

When motor trades are excluded the volume of retail sales was down by 0.3 per cent in the month and 0.5 per cent in the year.

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Monthly volume decreases were recorded in clothing, footwear and textiles (6.4 per cent); motor trades (4.5 per cent); other retail sales (3.8 per cent); hardware, paints and glass (2.4 per cent); furniture and lighting (2.1 per cent); and electrical goods (1.7 per cent).

On the other side the largest monthly volume increases were in bars (13.8 per cent); books, newspapers and stationery (7 per cent); pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles (3 per cent); and department stores (2.9 per cent).

The proportion of retail sales transacted online was 4.9 per cent in May and 5.6 per cent in April, compared with 5.2 per cent in May 2023.

Excluding motor trades the proportion of retail sales transacted online was 6.4 per cent in May and 7.2 per cent in April, compared with 6.7 per cent in May 2023.

Bernard Nulty, a director at Falcon Asset Management, which counts the Blanchardstown Centre in Dublin among its clients, said the data suggested consumers “still value the physical shopping experience”.

“We are continuing to see strong footfall figures at Blanchardstown Centre for May, with it being our highest on record and 2 per cent ahead of our figures in 2023,” he said.

“We have seen a significant strong performance from our retailers, in particular our cosmetics and health retailers who have been a stand out performer over the last 12 months, reporting double digit sales growth on pre-Covid and year-on-year.

“Our food and beverage sales have remained robust with the majority of our tenants reporting stable year-on-year sales for May.”

The CSO figures follow data from the Irish League of Credit Unions on Friday which showed consumer confidence improved in June, reversing several months of decline as households took a more positive view of their finances amid falling energy and food prices.

Its consumer sentiment index for the month reversed just over half of the cumulative losses seen in four consecutive monthly drops between January and May, said economist and report author Austin Hughes.

However, he said June’s 70.5 index reading remained “some distance below the long-term series average of 84.5″, suggesting households remain anxious about the cost of living.

The overall improvement was driven by positive feeling around household finances, Mr Hughes said, due to a combination of factors. “First of all June saw a reduction in motor fuel prices after a significant increase through the earlier months of 2024,” he said. CSO figures also point to a weakening of food price inflation in the month, while June also saw the announcement of the first European Central Bank interest rate cut.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter

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