New figures have revealed that last year saw the biggest fall in retail sales since 1982.
The volume of sales fell by 4.5% in 2008, the largest in more than a quarter of a century.
The figures from the Central Statistics Office show that sales slumped by 8% for the final three months of 2008, compared with the same period the previous year.
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According to the CSO, if motor sales are removed from the figures the final quarter would have seen the largest decrease on record.
Figures also show that the Eurozone economy shrank by a record 1.5% in the final quarter of last year.
The third quarterly contraction in a row, it was also the deepest fall in economic activity since the Eurozone came into being in 1999.
German industrial output fell by 4.6% December, the steepest decline in two decades and much worse than expected.
