New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that retail sales rose by 0.5% on a monthly basis in January to come in 2.7% higher than a year earlier.
The CSO said that excluding volatile car sales, retail sales volumes were 0.1% lower on the month but up 0.4% year-on-year.
Today's figures show the highest monthly volume increases were seen in sales of clothing, footwear and textiles, which jumped by 37.6% in January. Sales of books, newspapers and stationery rose by 3.9% while furniture and lighting sales were up 2.7%.
Meanwhile, the biggest monthly volume decreases were recorded in sales in bars, which slowed by 10.6%, while sales of pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles were down 6.4% and sales of hardware, paints and glass fell by 5.1%.
On an annual basis, the CSO said the biggest volume growth in January was seen in Electrical Goods sales, which increased by 6.1%, while car sales were up 5.8% and clothing, footwear and textiles rose by 5.3% compared to the same time a year ago.
Sectors with the largest annual volume declines last month were Department Stores, with sales sinking by 10.2%, while hardware, paints and glass sales were down 8.2%, sales in bars slowed by 7.5% and furniture and lighting sales fell by 7%.
The CSO said today that the value of retail sales was up by 0.9% in the month and rose by 5.4% on an annual basis.
The proportion of retail sales transacted online, from Irish registered companies, rose to 5.5% in January 2024 compared with 5.4% in December and 5.4% in January of last year 2023.
