Ireland reported the fourth highest rate of growth in retail sales across the European Union (EU) in February as consumer spending bounced back following a lean January.
The volume of retail sales in Ireland grew by 1.4 per cent in February in comparison with the previous month, a rate significantly above the EU average of 0.2 per cent, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics department.
Sales volume dropped by 1.5 per cent in January.
The retail sales volume metric is a business indicator which shows the level of spending in the retail sector after an adjustment for inflation and for seasonal trading patterns.
The areas of largest growth were in the sale of non-food products, excluding fuel, which saw a monthly increase of 2.5 per cent, followed by the sale of fuel which rose by 2.1 per cent. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco experiences notched up a slight rise of 1 per cent during the same period. All showed sales growth significantly above the EU average.
Only Cyprus (4.7 per cent), Estonia (2.2 per cent) and Lithuania (1.7 per cent) saw higher month-on-month growth in February than Ireland across the EU. Many saw a contraction, with Bulgaria, the Netherlands and Poland experiencing the biggest falls on the previous month at -1.7 per cent, -1.4 per cent and -1.2 per cent respectively.
Compared to February 2024, however, retail sales growth in Ireland is more in line with the EU average, at 2.3 per cent. Indexed against retail sale volume in 2021, the level of retail sales in Ireland has reached 119.2 per cent, the second highest level in that period.
While the retail environment has been hit by inflation, consumer spending which is linked to real wage growth is expected to drive domestic activity in the medium term.
