Retail sales fall in January as restrictions dampen activity

Retail sales fell in January as Covid restrictions dampened activity and consumers spent less on cosmetics, hardware and food.

Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show retail volumes were down 1.5 per cent on the previous month.

The sector is also being hit by rising prices with inflation running close to a 20-year high of 5 per cent and expected to go higher again on foot of surging energy prices.

Retail volumes were, however, nearly 19 per cent higher than January 2021 but year-on-year comparisons are misleading because of the Covid restrictions.

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The sectors with the largest monthly volume decreases were recorded in pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles (-14.9 per cent); hardware, paints and glass (-14.1 per cent); books, newspapers and stationery (-10.4 per cent); and food, beverages and tobacco (-10.3 per cent).

Car sales were also down 4 per cent month-on-month. In contrast, there were monthly increases in the volume of sales in clothing and footwear (+31.4 per cent) and electrical goods (+14.6 per cent) reflecting the post-Christmas sales.

The CSO said a number of sectors showed a very large annual increase in the volume of sales, compared with January 2021 when a full lockdown of non-essential retail and services was in force.

The volume of sales in bars rose by 499 per cent compared with January 2021. Nevertheless, bar sales remained 42.3 per cent lower than their pre-Covid level in January 2020.

The proportion of retail sales transacted online from Irish-registered companies was 5.8 per cent in January compared to 9.7 per cent in December 2021.

The CSO’s sale figures does not capture online sales with non-resident companies.