The volume of retail sales fell by 0.5% in October, the weakest performance in three months, data from the Central Statistics Office showed today.
When volatile car sales are excluded, retail sales volumes were down 2.1% compared to the previous month, their sharpest decline of the year, the CSO added.
Today's figures show a 9.3% fall in "Other Retail Sales" - which includes carpets, music recordings, games and toys, flowers, pet food and jewellery - while fuel sales slowed by 5.2%.
The sectors with the largest monthly volume increases included pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles - up 8.1% - while clothing, footwear and textiles sales grew by 3%.
The CSO also said there was a decrease of 1% in the value of retail sales in October compared to September, while there was an annual increase of 1.4% when compared with October 2018.
If car sales are excluded, there was a decrease of 2.4% in the value of retail sales in the month and an increase of 0.5% in the annual figure.
