Shops and department stores rung up strong sales growth in April, according to the latest retail statistics that show a 6.7 per cent rise in sales.
If car sale are excluded the annual increase was 8.8 per cent, and the monthly change was +2.7 per cent, the figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
March is the latest month for which final detailed figures are available, and the breakdown of sales shows that sales of electrical goods were particularly buoyant, rising by 8.6 per cent on March 2005.
The largest decrease in the volume of sales was in the books, newspapers and stationery category - which showed a 1 per cent decline.