Press Statement

Preasráiteas

28 January 2022

Go to release: Retail Sales Index December 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (28 January 2022) released the Retail Sales Index December 2021 (Provisional) November 2021 (Final).

Commenting on the release, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician, said: "Retail Sales fell by 3.2% in December 2021 when compared to November 2021 on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, retail volumes were 2.2% lower than in December 2020. 

In December 2021, the largest monthly volume decreases in sales were recorded in Bars (-34.7%) and Electrical Goods (-22.5%). The largest increase in the volume of sales was in Furniture & Lighting (+10.9%).

The sectors with the largest annual volume decreases in December 2021 were Motor Trades (-18.0%), Electrical Goods (-8.5%) and Other Retail Sales (-8.4%). Sectors showing the largest increases in volume compared to December 2020 were Bars (+36.6%) and Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+9.8%)."

Providing further analysis of the figures, Stephanie Kelleher said: "To help our users we have included additional analysis in Table 3a and Figure 3a.  These compare December 2021 retail sales to pre-COVID-19 levels in December 2019. The volume of retail sales in December 2021 was 4.8% higher than two years earlier. Several sectors showed significant changes compared to their corresponding level of sales in December 2019. The highest increases were seen in Furniture & Lighting (+22.5%) and Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+19.8%). The largest decreases in the volume of sales in December 2021 when compared to December 2019 levels, were Bars (-49.3%) and Fuel (-6.3%).

The proportion of retail sales transacted online (from Irish registered companies) was 6.5% in December 2021 compared to 6.0% in November 2021, 5.8% in December 2020 and 4.1% in December 2019.

The impact of price change is reflected in the difference between value and volume. In Fuel for example, the value of sales rose by 21.5% in the year to December 2021 while the volume fell by 3.5% over the same period, the difference due to higher prices compared to the previous year.

We would like to note that despite difficult circumstances, many retailers have continued to supply the CSO with information each month and we wish to thank all respondents for their ongoing support. The CSO can only compile such comprehensive releases ... Because You told Us."

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