The volume of monthly retail sales was flat in October, but was up by 5.8% compared to 2017, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

October’s performance was mainly driven by Motor Trades, which if excluded, October sales decreased by 1.1% on September and only increased by 4.2% for the year.

There was an increase of 0.1% in the value of retail sales in October when compared with September, with an annual increase of 5.3%.

Food, Beverages, and Tobacco

The volume Food, Beverages, and Tobacco sales increased by 2.2% in October when compared with September, and posted an annual increase of 4.7%.

The value of sales in Food, Beverages, and Tobacco fell marginally by 0.1% on a monthly rate, but increased by 5.3% compared to 2017.

Non-Specialised Stores, which includes supermarkets, saw a volume increase of 0.2% for the month and 5.4% for the year.

The value of these sales also increased by 0.2% against September, with an annual increase of 4.4%.

For the three months from August to October, Food, Beverages, and Tobacco sales rose by volume, 4.9%, and by value, 4.6%, when compared to the previous period.

They also experienced an annual increase of 7% in volume sales, and 4.5% in value sales.

© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O’Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.