Pubs remain black spot in rising retail sales figures

Retail sales grew, by volume and value, in the past three months, but changing consumer spending patterns have continued to hit pub and bar sales hard.

New figures from the CSO show bars suffered a 4.8% year-on-year fall in sales volumes in the three months to the end of May, the only business category to see an annualised f all over the period. It follows a 4.2% year on-year sales fall for the pub sector in the previous three months.

The figures coincide with a survey from the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland, showing that nearly 60% of Irish pubs are heavily reliant on visits from UK tourists, whose numbers have fallen by more than 4%.

Overall, the volume of retail sales was up year-on year by 3.6% in the three months to the end of May, while a 3.2% value increase was noted. For May alone, the CSO measured a 2.4% volume decline on the month, but a 1.1% pick-up on a year-on-year basis.

“What happens on the currency and Brexit fronts will be important factors in determining overall consumer spending patterns in the Republic over the next 12-18 months, but we are still expecting to see healthy personal consumption in the Irish economy in 2019 and 2020 as things currently stand,” said economist Alan McQuaid.

“Retail sales continue to remain erratic on a monthly basis and are still swinging back and forth, but the underlying trend is positive.

Even with the fluctuation in consumer sentiment, overall personal spending has been positive in the past few years, boosted by the increase in the numbers employed in the country.”

Mr McQuaid sees a rise of 2.5% in headline retail sales this year, and core sales likely 5% up on last year.