New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that retail sales volumes rose by 0.6% on a monthly basis in March and were 4.4% higher than pre-pandemic levels two years ago.
Retail sales volumes rose by 2.9% in March compared to the same time last year, the CSO added.
Today's figures suggest that rising inflation had little impact on consumer spending during the first quarter.
With annual inflation near a 40-year high at 6.7%, the value of retail sales - excluding motor trade - rose by 11.1% on an annual basis.
The value of fuel sales jumped by 35%, with food, beverages and tobacco up 6.8%, the Central Statistics Office said.
The CSO also said today that several sectors showed very large annual increases in the volume of sales in March compared with the same month last year when a full lockdown of non-essential retail and services was in force due to Covid-19.
The volume of sales in bars soared by 611% compared with March 2021 as bars were closed last year apart from some ancillary services.
But despite the large recovery in March this year over the previous year, bar sales are still 40.4% lower than their pre-Covid-19 level in February 2020.
Today's figures show other sectors with large annual increases included clothing and footwear, with sales jumping by 271% while sales in department stores were up 81%.
The CSO said the annual increase in these sectors reflected a recovery from a very low base in March 2021 when the country was in Level 5 Covid-19 lockdowns.
Meanwhile, the proportion of retail sales sold online from Irish registered companies stood at 5% in March, up from 4.5% in February 2022. It also compared to 11.1% in March last year and 4.5% in March 2020.
