New Central Statistics Office figures show that retail sales volumes increased by 9.7% in September compared with the same time last year - the fourth month of annual growth in a row.
Retail sales rose by 1.5% on a monthly basis in September, the CSO added.
The CSO said the the largest monthly increases were seen in car sales, which rose by 5.7%, while hardware, paints and glass sales were up 4.2% and sales of clothing, footwear and textiles increased by 3.1%.
But sales in bars fell by 16%, while furniture and lighting sales were down 1.6%.
The CSO noted that while retail sales in September were 9.7% higher than this time last year, it added that not every sector had fully recovered with sales in bars down over 49%, while sales of books, newspapers and stationery are 11.6% lower.
Fuel sales are also down 10.2%, while department stores sales are still 0.6% lower.
Retail sales had slumped as much as 43.7% in April at the height of the coronavirus lockdown.
The CSO noted that as shops reopened after the Covid-19 restrictions, the proportion of total retail sales online fell from the high of 15.3% recorded in April to 4.3% in September.
