December saw a boost to the volume of retail sales in the Republic, as Christmas shoppers upped their spending by 3.9 per cent compared to the previous year.
The provisional volume of retail sales in December rose by 0.9 per cent when compared to November, and sales were up 3.9 per cent compared to December 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
Excluding volatile car sales, the volume of retail sales rose by 0.3 per cent in the month to December, and by 1.8 per cent compared to the last month of 2022.
The total value of retail sales also increased in December, rising by 2.1 per cent compared to November, and by 6.9 per cent in the year since December 2022.
For the whole of 2023, retail sales volumes rose by 4.3 per cent when compared to 2022, while the total value of retail sales increased by 8.8 per cent.
December saw the highest monthly increase in sales volumes for motor trades (+5.2 per cent) followed by other retail sales (+2.7 per cent), with the biggest monthly decreases were for books, newspapers and stationery (-2.8 per cent), and food, beverages and tobacco (-1.4 per cent).
Some 5.8 per cent of retail sales from Irish registered companies were transacted online in December, compared to 5.7 per cent in November and 6.3 per cent in December 2022.
If motor sales are excluded, the proportion of retail sales transacted online rises in December rises to 6.2 per cent.
Last month some 19.3 per cent of electrical goods were sold online, as well as 16.2 per cent of books, newspapers, stationery and other goods.
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