Retail sales volumes were unchanged on a monthly basis in May and 0.3% higher than the same time a year ago, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show today.
Department store, electrical goods and hardware sales grew sharply on the month, while furniture, clothing and car sales saw falls.
Retailers had posted their strongest monthly sales in more than a year in April, when they grew by 4.1%.
Even with annual inflation at a near 40-year high of 7.8%, the value of retail sales - excluding car sales - fell by 0.1% year-on-year in May, the first month-on-month drop this year.
Sectors with the biggest monthly gains included department stores, where sales jumped by 20.9%, while sales of electrical goods were up 9.2% and hardware, paints and glass sales increased by 6.5%.
The largest monthly volume decreases were seen in the furniture and lighting sector, with sales down 22.3%, while clothing and footwear sales fell 21.1% and car sales slowed by 7%.
The CSO noted that two sectors showed very large annual increases in the volume of sales in May compared with May 2021.
Bar sales soared 769% in May compared with the same time last year, but despite the large recovery they still remain 26.6% lower than their pre-Covid19 level in February 2020.
Books, newspapers and stationery also showed a large annual increase, jumping by 107%, which also reflected a recovery from a very low base in May 2021.
The CSO also noted today that the value of sales in the fuel sector rose by 27.2% in the year to May 2022 while volumes fell by 0.5% over the same time, reflecting higher prices compared with the previous year.
Meanwhile, the proportion of retail sales transacted online, from Irish registered companies, rose to 6.1% in May compared with 4.9% in April and 5.6% the same time last year. .
