The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) report a decrease of 2.2% in volume sales in the month of March compared to the previous month, the strongest decline in the last 7 months.
In terms of year-to-year performance, volume sales also fell by 2.8%.
There was also a decrease in the value of sales. March saw monthly retail sales fall by 3.4% and year-to-year performance drop by 4.1%.
Both value sales and volume sales have been marginally declining since November.
If you remove volatile vehicle sales, year-to-year performances have increased across both areas. Volume sales were up by 2.3% and value sales rose marginally by 0.2%.
Monthly sales still saw a decline, with volume sales decreasing by 1.4% and value sales dropping1.7%.
The food business decreased by 0.4% in volume sales, but this performance was a 5.1% increase on the previous year.
© 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.
