New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the volume of retail sales rose by 6.3% in June compared to the same time last year. There was a monthly decrease of 2.3%.
The CSO says that if motor trades are excluded, the annual increase was 6.5% and the monthly change was up 0.8%.
Today's figures also show that the value of retail sales increased by 8.5% in June compared to June 2005, while there was a monthly increase of 2.3% - the highest month on month growth rate since January. If motor trades are excluded, the annual increase was 8% while the monthly change was up 0.9%.
The CSO says that for the three months from March to May, the largest increase in the volume of sales was seen in the Departments Stores sector, with sales there up 7.6%. The largest decrease was in the motor trade sector, with sales down 3.5%.
Davy Stockbrokers noted that Irish retail sales have been healthy all year. In the first quarter, sales spiked 6.9% (not seasonally adjusted) year-on-year in volume. That growth rate slowed a little to 5.8% in the second quarter, but that was due to weaker car sales.
The stockbrokers said that energy costs and higher interest rates on car loan repayments may have deterred consumers from making that big purchase.
It adds that underlying retail sales, excluding cars, have actually accelerated. Sales volume increased 7.4% in the second quarter of 2006, up from 6% in the first three months of the year. They said this reflects healthy employment growth, wages rising ahead of inflation and the impact of SSIA funds hitting the economy.
