Bar sales in Ireland fell 10% in the past year

Both the volume and value of sales through Irish bars and pubs last year fell by more than 9%

The bar sector saw the largest annual volume decline with sales down 9.9%.

Retail sales volumes fell 1.3% in the 12 months from March 2024 and were down 0.9% compared to February, with bar sales dropping 9.9% over the past year.

New data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) shows that when the motor trade is excluded, the monthly volume of overall retail sales remained unchanged in March and increased by 1.4% over the year.

However bars and pubs saw the largest annual drop in volume sales of any sector, falling 9.9% compared to March 2024, far ahead of the next largest sector, fuel, which saw a 3.1% annual drop. It was a similar picture when viewed in value terms Ireland's bar sector saw a 9.2% drop in the value of sales in the past year.

The bar representative body, the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) holds its annual general conference in Limerick on May 13. The organisation said it will be discussing key issues facing the pub sector, including the cost of doing business, Europe’s second-highest excise rate and the 'dramatic' decline in taxi numbers.

Pat Crotty, CEO of the VFI CEO said the CSO figures support anecdotal evidence from publicans around the country that drink sales have fallen in the region of 9% over the past year. 

"This comes on the back of rising costs, with the likes of rates, water charges and labour costs all surging way ahead of inflation," he said.

"Publicans are now facing a perfect storm of rising costs and falling turnover, which is not sustainable if the pub trade is to survive over the long term. It should be noted that most cost increases come from Government, so we need to see meaningful supports that will make a difference to the average publican struggling to attract customers through the door," Mr Crotty said.

According to the CSO, the sectors showing monthly volume decreases were department stores down 3.8%, pharmaceuticals, medical & cosmetic articles down 3.3%, bars down 2.3% and fuel fell 0.6%.

It was a similar picture for sales by value. Tommy Allen, Statistician in the Enterprise Statistics Division said: "The value of Retail Sales was 0.8% lower in March 2025 than in February 2025 and was down by 1.1% when compared with March 2024. Excluding Motor Trades, the value of Retail Sales rose by 0.4% in the month and by 1.9% on an annual basis."