Volume of retail sales up almost 1% in November

The volume of retail sales (i.e. excluding price effects) increased by 0.9% in November compared to the previous month, CSO figures have revealed.

The November figure represented was an increase of 4.3% in annual terms.

If Motor Trades are excluded, there was an increase of 3.1% in the volume of retail sales in November 2016 when compared with October 2016 - an increase of 4.9% in the annual figure.

The sectors with the largest monthly increases were Electrical goods (17%) and Pharmaceuticals Medical & Cosmetic Articles (7.9%), with Motor Trades (-1%) and Bars (-0.9%) recording the largest decreases.

There was an increase of 0.6% in the value of retail sales in November 2016 when compared with October 2016 (an increase of 2.1% when compared with November 2015).