Return of outdoor dining drives retail sales growth

The CSO noted that last month’s retail sales volumes were 13.4% up on pre-Covid levels seen in June 2019.

The return of outdoor hospitality has heavily boosted retail sales, according to the CSO.

Retail sales surged — both in volume and value terms — last month, heavily driven by the partial reopening of restaurants and pubs for outdoor service, CSO figures show.

Provisional data for June show that consumer spending volumes grew 3.3% compared to May and surged 10.6% higher than June of last year.