The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has released the Retail Sales Index for March 2022 (Provisional) February 2022 (Final).
Commenting on the release, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician, said: “Retail Sales increased by 0.6% in March 2022 when compared to February 2022 on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, retail volumes were 2.9% higher than in March 2021.
In March 2022, monthly volume increases in sales were recorded in Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+9.9%), Department Stores (+7.4%), and Non-Specialised Stores (incl. Supermarkets) (+2.0%) and Hardware, Paints & Glass (+1.5%). The largest monthly decreases in the volume of sales were in Bars (-19.6%), Electrical Goods (-15.8%), and Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (-10.3%).
Several sectors showed very large annual increases in the volume of sales, compared with March 2021 when a full lockdown of non-essential retail and services was in force. The volume of sales in Bars rose by 611% compared with March 2021. Bars were closed in March 2021 except where there were ancillary services. Despite the large recovery in March 2022 over the previous year, Bar sales remained 40.4% lower than their pre-COVID-19 level in February 2020. Other sectors showing large annual increases were Clothing & Footwear (+271%) and Department Stores (+81%). In these sectors, the annual increase reflects a recovery from a very low base in March 2021 when the country was in Level 5 lockdown.
Compared to a year ago, the three sectors which showed the largest reduction in volume were Hardware, Paints & Glass (-14.1%), Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (-13.4%) and Other Retail Sales (-12.1%).”
Providing further analysis of the figures, Stephanie Kelleher said: “To help our users we have included additional analysis in Table 3a and Figure 3a comparing March 2022 with February 2020 (pre-COVID-19). Compared to February 2020 (25 months earlier and pre-COVID-19), the volume of retail sales in March 2022 was 4.4% higher. The highest increases were seen in Clothing & Footwear (+45.4%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+20.6%), Hardware, Paints & Glass (+18.5%) and Furniture & Lighting (+10.4%). The largest decreases in the volume of sales in March 2022 when compared to February 2020 levels, were Bars (-40.4%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-15.6%), Fuel (-14.2%) and Motor Trades (-11.9%).
The proportion of retail sales transacted online (from Irish registered companies) was 5.0% in March 2022 compared to 4.5% in February 2022, 11.1% in March 2021 and 4.5% in March 2020.
The impact of price change is reflected in the difference between value and volume. In Fuel for example, the value of sales rose by 35.0% in the year to March 2022 while the volume rose by just 1.9% over the same period, the difference due to higher prices compared to the previous year.