Annual Retail Sales Increase 9.2% in March 2015

Retail Sales Volume increased by 1.4% in March 2015, an increase of 9.2% in the annual figure. Sectors with the largest month on month volume increases were Motor Trades (+4.1%), Bars (+4.0%) and Other Retail Sales (+2.6%)

If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a decrease of 1.0% in the volume of retail sales in March 2015 when compared with February 2015 and there was an increase of 4.7% in the annual figure.

The sectors with the largest month on month volume increases were Motor Trades (+4.1%), Bars (+4.0%) and Other Retail Sales (+2.6%). The sectors with the largest monthly decreases were Department Stores (-3.2%), Non-Specialised Stores (excluding Department Stores) (-2.4%) and Fuel (-1.0%)

There was an increase of 1.2% in the value of retail sales in March 2015 when compared with February 2015 and there was an annual increase of 5.7% when compared with March 2014. If Motor Trades are excluded, there was a monthly decrease of 0.9% in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 1.2%.

Central Statistics Office reports