Retail sales volumes increased by 0.5 per cent last month, and are up 11.9 per cent on an annual basis, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

If motor sales are excluded, there was an increase of 3.1 per cent in the volume of retail sales in April when compared with March, and there was an increase of 7.8 per cent in the annual figure.

The sectors with the largest month-on-month volume increases were department stores and food, beverages & tobacco, which rose 11.6 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively.

In contrast, the sectors with the largest monthly decreases were motors, which fell 2.5 per cent, furniture and lighting (-2.1 per cent) and electrical goods (-0.8 per cent).

There was an increase of 0.5 per cent in the value of retail sales in April when compared with March and there was an annual increase of 8.3 per cent when compared with April 2014.

Retail Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the Irish retail sector, said consumers are feeling more certain about their personal finances and this is translating into increased spending in the shops.

Retail Ireland director Thomas Burke said sales volume growth remains twice the level of sales value, which suggests deep discounting is still a significant feature of the Irish retail landscape.

“While these numbers are encouraging, overall retail sales remain 17 per cent below pre-recession peak levels. We still have a long way to go to return to pre-crash levels,” he added.

Retail Excellence Ireland also said the figures show consumers are securing great value because of aggressive retailer discounting.

The group said the year on year increase in value is also somewhat of a surprise given the anecdotal impact of consumers switching scarce discretionary spending to secure lifetime community health insurance deals before the deadline expired.

“Consumers are still stretching their spend to secure value. This is understandable given the hits to take home pay over the past eight years as Government has sought to ‘balance the books’,” REI deputy chief executive Seán Murphy said.