According to new figures released by Eurostat, Ireland’s total retail trade rose by 6.1% in 2015.
This rate of growth was the second highest in the EU, trailing only Romania, who posted an increase of 14.3%.
Overall, the study showed that the volume of retail trade rose by 1.4% in the eurozone and by 2.0% in the EU as a whole.
However, there are signs that the European economy is slowing down. In December 2015 compared with November 2015, the volume of retail trade in the eurozone rose by just 0.3%, and grew by a mere 0.1% in the EU.
The 'food, drinks and tobacco' category continues to increase in retail trade volume. Compared to November, December saw the category rise 0.6% in the eurozone and 0.8% in the EU.
Annually, the category increased 0.8% in the eurozone and 1.5% in the EU.
CityAM.com cite Howard Archer, an economist at IHS, who suggests that even though the European economy appears to be stagnating, there is reason to be optimistic.
"Eurozone consumers’ purchasing power is getting a serious boost from very low inflation or deflation across the Eurozone while labour markets have improved appreciably overall," he said.
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Brian Dermody
