Retail sales decreased by 0.2 per cent last month, according to provisional figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

However, the figures show sales have increased by 8.2 per cent on an annual basis.

If motor trades are excluded, there was a monthly increase of 0.4 per cent in the value of retail sales and an annual increase of 0.7 per cent.

The sectors with the largest month-on-month volume increases were pharmaceuticals medical and cosmetic articles, which rose 4.5 per cent, and fuel which rose 4 per cent.

In contrast, the sectors with the largest monthly decreases were department stores, which fell 2.1 per cent, furniture and lighting (-1.7 per cent) and bars (-1.6 per cent).

There was a decrease of 0.5 per cent in the value of retail sales in February when compared with January and there was an annual increase of 4.4 per cent when compared with February 2015.