The volume of Retail Sales declined by 1.3% month-on-month in June 2022 and decreased by 6.6% in the year with retailers looking to offset volume decline, according to CSO data.
Retailers have been compensating for lower volume by hiking prices. Though the Retail Sales volume index was down 6.6% year-on-year, the decline in the value of those sales was limited to 0.9%.
On an annual basis, the value of all sales for retailers in June 2022, excluding car sales, was 3.2% higher than a year earlier.
Furniture & Lighting (+25.9%), Department Stores (+19.0%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (+10.4%) and Bars (+8.2%) recorded the largest monthly volume increases.
The largest monthly volume decreases were in Electrical Goods (-13.5%), Hardware, Paints & Glass (-11.3%) and Clothing & Footwear (-6.3%).
In Association with
Bars (+54.5%) and Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+6.6%) were the only sectors that showed an annual volume increase. The CSO said caution should be exercised when interpreting the increase in Bars data, as the comparison is with a low base from a year ago when some Covid restrictions still applied.
The CSO said that despite this large recovery in June 2022 over the previous year, Bar sales remained 24.0% lower than its pre-COVID-19 level in February 2020.
The sectors showing the largest annual reductions in volume were Other Retail Sales (-29.8%), Food, Beverages & Tobacco (-14.6%) and Motor Trades (-14.5%).
Compared with February 2020 (28 months earlier and pre-COVID-19), the volume of All Retail Sales in June 2022 was 2.4% higher.
The highest increases over this period were seen in Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+25.4%), Clothing & Footwear (+22.8%), Hardware, Paints & Glass (+16.2%) and Department Stores (+13.6%
The largest decreases in the volume of sales in June 2022 when compared with February 2020 levels were Bars (-24.0%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-19.8%), and Fuel (-10.9%).
The proportion of Retail Sales transacted online from Irish registered companies was 4.9% in June 2022 compared with 5.7% in May 2022, 4.9% in June 2021 and 6.7% in June 2020.
Excluding Motor Trades, the proportion of Retail Sales transacted online in June 2022 was 5.7%.
