Retail sales edge higher in May
Print28 June 2013
New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), released today (Friday) show that the volume of retail sales rose by 0.1% in May when compared to the previous month. But sales were down 0.7% on an annual basis. The CSO said that when car sales are excluded, the volume of retail sales rose by 1.4% on a monthly basis, while there was no change on an annual basis.
Sales in specialised food and beverage stores grew by 5.2% and clothing and footwear sales increased by 3.8%. The biggest fall was seen in the motor trade, with sales down 5.5% as potential buyers put off their purchases until the introduction of the new 132 licence plate in July.
Sales of books, newspapers and stationery also declined by 3.9% month on month. Commenting on today’s figures, Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said that in overall terms, the retail sales data for January-May are a clear indication that consumers still remain very cautious. "As we saw with the official GDP numbers for the first quarter yesterday, consumer spending posted its largest fall since 2009 in the first three months of the year, though some of this may have been weather related. The figures since then point to some improvement, though still nothing to get too elated about,” he added.
May was the first month to have recorded a month on month improvement in underlying sales in either value or volume terms in the year to date.
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