THE CENTRAL STATISTICS Office has published figures that show a slight lift in retail sales for 2013 – but a small month-on-month drop between October and November.

In November, clothing, footwear and textiles went up 5.7 per cent on October, department stores sales went up 4.3 per cent and furniture and lighting were up 2.7 per cent. However, the books, newspapers and stationery (-3.2 per cent); motor trade (-2.5 per cent) and food, beverages and tobacco (-1.8 per cent) sectors were less fortunate.

Retail was up by 1.4 per cent overall in November in the eurozone compared to the previous month, according to figures from Eurostat, also published today. Food, drinks and tobacco sales increased by 1.1 per cent. There was a larger increase in the non-food sector, up by 2.4 per cent in the eurozone.

Commenting on the disappointing drop in retail in November, Retail Ireland’s director Stephen Lynam said today that there is potential for growth and that he would rather wait for the full CSO data for 2013 to be released at the end of January before drawing any major conclusions.

“There was much speculation in December about how retailers performed over Christmas. (Only the end of year data) will give us the true story,” he said.

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