The Central Statistics Office says retail sales figures fell at a record rate in January, mainly due to a dramatic slump in the motor sector.
The volume of retail sales in January plummeted by just over 20% compared with the same month last year, the biggest annual drop since records began in 1974.
The CSO says the main reason was a 42% drop in motor trade sales over the 12 months. The CSO says the motor sector - which includes sales at petrol stations as well as car sales - usually accounts for more than a third of sales in January. The volume of sales overall fell by 9.4% in January alone.
When the motor trade figures are excluded, sales fell by 8.1% over the year and just 0.1% in the month.
Apart from the motor sector, the figures show that the trend is also sharply lower in other categories, particularly those related to the property sector. Hardware, paint and glass sales are down almost 22% over the year, while sales of electrical goods are 24% lower. Furniture and lighting sales fell by 34% in the year to January.
The value of sales, which takes prices into account, fell at an annual rate of 19.9% in January - also a record - with a monthly fall of 10%.
Separate CSO figures showed that planning permissions were granted for 13,767 homes in the last quarter of 2008, a drop of 22.4% from a year earlier. The figure for houses was down 21%, while there was a 26% drop in permissions for new apartments.
