Press Statement

Preasráiteas

28 February 2022

Go to release: Retail Sales Index January 2022

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

Commenting on the release, Stephanie Kelleher, Statistician, said: "Retail sales decreased by 1.5% in January 2022 when compared to December 2021 on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, retail volumes were 18.9% higher than in January 2021. 

In January 2022, the largest monthly volume decreases in sales were recorded in Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (-14.9%) and Hardware, Paints & Glass (-14.1%). The sectors with the largest monthly increases in volume of sales were Clothing & Footwear (+31.4%) and Electrical Goods (+14.6%). 

A number of sectors showed a very large annual increase in the volume of sales, compared with January 2021 when a full lockdown of non-essential retail and services was in force. The volume of sales in Bars rose by 499% compared with January 2021. Nevertheless, Bar sales remained 42.3% lower than their pre-COVID-19 level in January 2020. Clothing & Footwear saw an annual volume increase (+370%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (+91.4%), Department Stores (+88.8%) and Furniture & Lighting (+71.2%). In all of these sectors, the annual increase reflected recovery from a very low base in January 2021. Compared to a year ago, three sectors showed a decline, Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (-7.9%), Other Retail Sales (-7.2%) and Non-Specialised Stores (incl. Supermarkets) (-6.1%)."

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 January 2022 retail sales to pre-COVID-19 levels in January 2020. The volume of retail sales in January 2022 was 1.5% higher compared to January 2020 (two years earlier and pre-COVID-19). The highest increases were seen in Clothing & Footwear (+47.3%), Furniture & Lighting (+15.4%) and Electrical Goods (+13.7%). The largest decreases in the volume of sales in January 2022 when compared to January 2020 levels, were Bars (-42.3%) and Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-14.2%). 

The proportion of retail sales transacted online (from Irish registered companies) was 5.8% in January 2022 compared to 9.7% in December 2021, 11.0% in January 2021 and 3.2% in January 2020.

The impact of price change is reflected in the difference between value and volume. In Fuel for example, the value of sales rose by 52.4% in the year to January 2022 while the volume rose by 23.7% 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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