Shoppers appeared to be limbering up for the run-in to Christmas during October with the volume of retail sales increasing by 5 per cent that month on an annual basis.
Retail spending rose by 0.5 per cent in October compared to September, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) retail sales index.
The value of retail sales increased by 6.6 per cent in October 2007 compared to October 2006 and increased by 1.4 per cent in the month.
If car sales are excluded, the annual increase was a rise of 7 per cent and the monthly change was up 1.2 per cent.
Over the three-month period to September 2007 the largest rise in sales was in the "other retail sales" segment, which rose by 4.3 per cent.
During the same period sales of electrical goods dropped by 7.7 per cent.