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This chapter contains information on the services sector. Data is taken from the Retail Sales Inquiry and the Monthly Services Inquiry. The primary purpose of the Retail Sales Inquiry is to provide a short-term indication of changes in the value and volume (or quantity) of retail sales in Ireland. The Monthly Services Inquiry measures changes in output in the non-financial traded services sector.
| Table 11.1 Volume indices of retail sales | |||
| Base 2015=100 | |||
| Businesses | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| Motor trades | 100.0 | 113.3 | 113.6 |
| Retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating | 100.0 | 104.2 | 109.3 |
| Department stores | 100.0 | 99.8 | 106.7 |
| Retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores | 100.0 | 102.7 | 106.7 |
| Retail sale of automotive fuel | 100.0 | 101.9 | 103.5 |
| Retail sale of pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic articles | 100.0 | 105.1 | 111.0 |
| Retail sale of textiles, clothing and footwear | 100.0 | 106.4 | 113.2 |
| Retail sale of furniture and lighting | 100.0 | 112.3 | 131.1 |
| Retail sale of hardware, paints and glass | 100.0 | 106.7 | 116.3 |
| Retail sale of electrical goods | 100.0 | 110.5 | 126.5 |
| Retail sale of books, newspapers, stationery | 100.0 | 98.8 | 99.4 |
| Other retail sales | 100.0 | 91.1 | 82.9 |
| Bars | 100.0 | 103.1 | 106.8 |
| All retail businesses, excluding motor trades | 100.0 | 103.1 | 107.6 |
| All retail businesses | 100.0 | 106.3 | 109.4 |
| Combined groups: | |||
| All retail businesses, excluding motor trades and bars | 100.0 | 103.1 | 107.6 |
| Motor trades and automotive fuel | 100.0 | 112.1 | 112.6 |
| All retail businesses, excluding motor trades, automotive fuel and bars | 100.0 | 103.2 | 107.9 |
| Retail sale of food | 100.0 | 104.1 | 108.8 |
| Retail sale of non food products, excluding motor trades, automotive fuel and bars | 100.0 | 102.4 | 107.0 |
| Retail sale of household equipment | 100.0 | 109.9 | 124.6 |
| Retail sale of books, newspapers stationery and other goods | 100.0 | 92.0 | 84.9 |
| Source: CSO | |||
Interactive table: StatBank link
| Business Sectors | All Business | All Businesses excluding motors |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 100 | 100 |
| 2016 | 106.3 | 103.1 |
| 2017 | 109.4 | 107.6 |
The primary purpose of the RSI is to provide a short-term indication of changes in the value and volume (or quantity) of retail sales in Ireland. It provides an accurate and objective measure of retail trading and supplies a valuable guide to consumer spending behaviour in the Irish economy.
In 2017, the volume of retail sales in All businesses increased by 2.9% when compared to 2016, while All businesses excluding motors increased by 4.4%. All sectors showed an increase on 2016 with the volume of retail sales of Furniture and lighting increasing by 16.7% in 2017 with the exception of Other retail sales with a decrease of 9% on the previous year.
| Table 11.2 Value indices of the Monthly Service Inquiry | |||
| Base year 2015=100 | |||
| Sector | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| Wholesale and retail trade repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 99.9 | 99.7 | 101.3 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 99.9 | 101.3 | 102.8 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 100.0 | 102.8 | 108.5 |
| Information and communication (J) | 100.0 | 107.4 | 109.4 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities (M) | 99.8 | 108.8 | 121.7 |
| Administrative and support service activities (N) | 100.0 | 99.9 | 108.4 |
| Other Services (68, 92,93,95,96) | 100.2 | 112.2 | 118.0 |
| All services (45 to 63, 68 to 82, 92 to 96) | 100.0 | 104.4 | 108.5 |
| Source: CSO | |||
Interactive Table: Statbank link
The value of the monthly services sector was 3.9% higher in 2017 than in 2016. All sectors showed an increase, the greatest was in the Professional, scientific and technical activities sector, which recorded 11.9% more activity than in 2016. This was followed by an 8.5% increase in the Administrative and support service activities sector.
| Table 11.3 Services and Distribution | ||||||
| Percentage change | ||||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2015 - 2016 | |||
| Enterprises | No. | 185,531 | 192,545 | 193,081 | 0.3 | |
| of which: | ||||||
| SME (<250) | 185,245 | 192,234 | 192,739 | 0.3 | ||
| Large (250+) | 286 | 311 | 342 | 10.0 | ||
| Persons Engaged | No. | 989,231 | 1,037,683 | 1,088,732 | 4.9 | |
| of which: | ||||||
| SME (<250) | 734,865 | 768,550 | 798,256 | 3.9 | ||
| Large (250+) | 254,366 | 269,133 | 290,476 | 7.9 | ||
| Turnover | €m | 318,981 | 351,964 | 398,393 | 13.2 | |
| of which: | ||||||
| SME (<250) | 205,655 | 232,606 | 264,833 | 13.9 | ||
| Large (250+) | 113,326 | 119,358 | 133,559 | 11.9 | ||
| Gross Value Added | €m | 73,354 | 81,108 | 90,710 | 11.8 | |
| of which: | ||||||
| SME (<250) | 43,230 | 52,380 | 58,330 | 11.4 | ||
| Large (250+) | 30,124 | 28,728 | 32,380 | 12.7 | ||
| Source: CSO | ||||||
The Services and Distribution sectors reported an annual increase in turnover of 13.2% from €352.0 billion in 2015 to €398.4 billion in 2016.
Gross Value Added in Services and Distribution increased by 11.8% from €81.1 billion in 2015 to €90.7 billion in 2016.
In 2016, the year on year change in the number of persons engaged showed a 4.9% increase from 1,037,683 to 1,088,732.
The number of enterprises in these two sectors increased by just 0.3% in 2016.
| Turnover | Gross Value Added | |
| 2014 | 318.981 | 73.354 |
| 2015 | 351.964 | 81.108 |
| 2016 | 398.393 | 90.71 |
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