THERE HAS BEEN a decrease in the volume of Irish retail sales, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal.

Chambers Ireland has said that the figures in the retail index for February 2011 once again highlight the pressures being faced by retailers at this time.

Seán Murphy, Chambers Ireland Deputy Chief Executive said:

Although the volume of retail sales decreased by 0.7% in February 2011 when compared with February 2010, there was a monthly increase of 3.2%. In order to build on this increase, retailers need costs reduced further – such as local government rates and charges. Any cost savings local authorities achieve must be passed back on to hard-pressed retailers in the form of rate reductions now.

Similarly, proposals to increase the National Minimum Wage will not help to secure employment in this sector in the medium term.

The volume of retail sales decreased by 0.7 per cent in February 2011 when compared with February 2010 and there was a monthly increase of 3.2 per cent.

When motor trades are excluded, the volume of retail sales decreased by -3.2 per cent  in February 2011 when compared with February 2010, while there was a monthly decrease of 0.3 per cent.

There were four areas that did show year-on-year increases in the volume of retail sales in February: motor trades (5.3 per cent), non-specialised stores (0.5 per cent) and clothing, footwear and textiles (0.7 per cent).

However, pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles (-7.0per cent), fuel (-8.0 per cent), furniture and lighting (-12.9 per cent), and other retail sales (-11.4 per cent), were amongst the nine categories that showed year-on-year decreases.

The value of retail sales decreased by 0.3 per cent in February 2011 when compared with February 2010 and there was a month-on-month change of +1.0 per cent.

If Motor Trades, which showed the most consistent increase, are excluded, there was an annual decrease of 1.9 per cent in the value of retail sales and a monthly decrease of 0.8 per cent.

Figures reveal that there has been an overall consistent decreasing in percentages since April 2010.