Bar sales surge in volume and value during April

Sales in bars grew by 14% in volume and by 18% in value during April - the largest increase across all retail areas. 

The bar trade saw the largest increase in volume and value of sales out of any sector during the month of April, figures from the Central Statistics Office shows.

According to the Retail Sales Index for April, the volume of all retail sales is up 2.8% compared to March and up 7.5% compared to April 2022. The value of these transactions grew by 6.2% in the month and by 13.9% in the year.

Stephanie Kelleher, statistician with the CSO, said that if car sales were excluded from these numbers, retail sales “rose by just 0.5% in the month and fell by 0.4% in the year when compared with April 2022”.

Sales in bars increased 14% compared to March while the value of these sales increased 18%.

The volume of car sales increased by 10.3% during April and sales of clothing, footwear, and textile sales also increased by 9.5%. The value of the sales of each grew by 10.7% and by 9.3% respectively.

However, the area which saw the biggest month-on-month decrease was “Other Retail Sales” - which includes items such as carpets, music and video recordings, games and toys, among other items. It dropped 21.1%.

Other notable decreases include furniture and lighting, down 4.7% month on month, and sales in department stores, down 2.7%.

In annual terms, car sales saw the largest annual volume growth, increasing 18.1% with purchases of books, newspapers and stationery also up 5.8% and fuel up 5.5% 

The areas that saw the biggest drops included specialised stores that sell food, drink and tobacco, which was down 7.8%, as well as hardware, paint and glass which is down 2.9%.

The proportion of retail sales transacted online, from Irish registered companies, was 5.0% in April 2023 compared with 5.8% in March 2023 and 4.9% in April 2022.