The volume of retail sales increased by 0.1 per cent last month when compared with September, although there was an annual decrease of 3.8 per cent, figures released today showed.
When motor trades are excluded, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said the volume of sales decreased by 0.2 per cent in October 2011 when compared with September, with an annual decrease of 3.6 per cent.
Fuel (+1.7 per cent), furniture & lighting (+1.3 per cent) and motor trades (+0.9 per cent) were the categories that showed the largest month-on-month increases.
While books, newspapers & stationery (-2.8 per cent), department stores (-1.9 per cent) and electrical goods (-1.7 per cent) revealed month-on-month decreases.
The CSO said there was no change in the value of retail sales on a monthly basis, however the annual change was -3.7 per cent. Excluding motor sales, the monthly decline in value was 0.1 per cent with a 2.8 per cent drop for the annual figure.