New car sales helped the volume of retail sales jump by 11.9% during July, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.
July is a popular month with car sales, with the roll-out of a new registration plate.
However, when the motor trade is excluded, retail sales volume for the month was 0.2% lower between June and July.
Car sales saw a 7% volume boost in July, while the areas of clothing & footwear (+3.2%) and bars (+2.6%) also saw increases.
Sales volumes were lower in the areas of ‘non-specialised stores’ (-2.2%), ‘books, newspapers & stationery’ (-1.7%), and ‘furniture & lighting’ (-1%).
Annually in July retail sales volume was 2.1% higher and a 7% increase when motor trades are excluded.
The CSO figures also show that on the value front, retail sales were 8.9% higher on a monthly basis in July, while the annual change was a fall of 0.3%.
