Drink sales in pubs down 7%

DRINK sales by volume in pubs fell by 7% in the year to November, but price hikes ensured the money going into publicans’ tills fell by just 1%, figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveal.

However, the trend does not look good for publicans or the taxman. The value of sales fell 2.6% alone in November over October, the latest retail sales figures from the CSO show.

Furniture and lighting shops saw their sales by volume plummet by 11% but the sector obviously does not have the pricing power enjoyed by the licensed trade. Price increases in the sector eased the impact of the fall in volume sales to register a drop in sales by value of 9.4%.