THE VOLUME OF retail sales -the amount of items purchased by consumers- fell by 1.6% in July from the previous month and decreased by 8.1% in the year since July 2021.

The Volume of Retail Sales in July 2022 report, released today by the Central Statistics Office, showed that sales volume for last month was at the same level as February 2020. 

The largest monthly volume decreases were in the categories of Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-27.2%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (-6.8%), Other Retail Sales (-5.5%) and Motor Trades (-4.9%).

In the past year sales volume from Bars rose by 56.8%, Clothing & Footwear by 4.3%, Department Stores (+4.2%), and Furniture & Lighting (+1.1%).

These were the only sectors that showed an annual increase in the volume of sales, however the CSO noted that the increase in transactions from pubs were largely due to the restrictions in place in July 2021 which led to low sales.

Commenting on the release, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician in the Business Statistics Division of the CSO, said:

“Compared with February 2020 (29 months earlier and pre-Covid-19), the volume of All Retail Sales in July 2022 was unchanged. The largest increases in the volume of Retail Sales in July 2022 since pre-COVID-19 were in Clothing & Footwear (+21.5%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+19.7%), and Hardware, Paints & Glass (+12.7%).”

“The largest volume decreases during the same period occurred in Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-42.2%), Other Retail Sales (-12.1%), Fuel (-10.2%), and Bars (-8.4%).”

The proportion of online transactions from Irish registered companies was 4.4% last month compared with 5.0% in June, 4.8% in July 2021 and 4.6% in July 2020. 

The value of retail sales, the amount of money spent, was 0.1% lower in July than in June and was 0.4% lower than a year earlier.

Excluding Motor Trades, the value of retail sales decreased by 1.7% in the month and increased by 5.7% from July 2021.