Retail sales fell in June as fewer shoppers spent money on clothing and footwear, new data from the Central Statistics Office showed.
The headline retail sales index was down 1.4 per cent in the month and 1.8 per cent compared to June 2023. The worst hit sectors were clothing, footwear and textiles, which declined almost 10 per cent month on month, and 6 per cent compared with 2023 figures.
Books and stationery were 5.5 per cent lower compared with May, while pubs saw a 3.5 per cent decline. That was partly offset by a 5.3 per cent rise in the volume of sales of hardware, while electrical goods grew 2 per cent.
Annual figures also pointed to a 3.6 per cent fall-off in department store sales, while electrical goods rose almost 13 per cent.
When the motor trade was excluded, retail sales volumes were 0.4 per cent lower in June, and 2 per cent down on last year’s figures.
The value of sales also declined month on month, falling 1.4 per cent, while the annual figures showed a 0.2 per cent rise. Excluding the motor trade saw those figures shift to a 1.8 per cent decline in the month, and a fall of 0.7 per cent year on year.
Online sales accounted for almost 5 per cent of retail sales from Irish registered companies, at 4.9 per cent in June compared with 4.8 per cent in May and 5.8 per cent a year earlier.
