The sales increase in December took place as the country witnessed a temporary reopening of large parts of the economy and many retail stores re-started operations. The CSO confirmed that, on an annual basis, the retail volumes were 8.2% higher in December compared with the same month in 2019.

Excluding Motor Trades are excluded, the volume of retail sales increased by 12.7% in December 2020 over the previous month and increased by 7.5% when compared with December 2019.

While the volume of sales for Bars increased almost four-fold in December compared to November, it represented just over one third of the volume of sales in December 2019. Sales also increased in Clothing, Footwear & Textiles (+160.9%), Furniture & Lighting (+63.5%), Department Stores (+42.6%), Motor Trades (+26.8%), Other Retail Sales (+18.2%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (+12.0%), Fuel (+11.1%), Non-Specialised Stores (incl. Supermarkets) (+2.8%) and Hardware, Paints & Glass (+1.1%). The monthly volume of sales fell in Electrical Goods (-17.1%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (-1.8%) and Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (-0.1%).

Retail sales in December were 10.4% higher than in February 2020 before the crisis started. The sectors which were lower than February were Bars (-62.4%), Books, Newspapers and Stationery (-11.1%), Department Stores (-4.5%) and Fuel (-0.7%). All other sectors had sales greater than they had in February 2020. The Sectors with the highest increases since February were Hardware, Paints & Glass (+30.5%), Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (+23.3%), Motor Trades (+20.4%) and Other Retail Sales (+21.8%)

Compared with December 2019, the volume of retail sales was still lower in Bars (-62.7%), Books, Newspapers & Stationery (-7.7%), Department Stores (-6.7%) and Fuel (-3.5%). The volume of retail sales was higher in December 2020 compared to the same period of last year in Hardware, Paints & Glass (+23.0%), Furniture & Lighting (+20.0%), Other Retail Sales (+18.8%), Food, Beverages & Tobacco (Specialised Stores) (+16.3%), Non-Specialised Stores (incl. Supermarkets) (+14.3%), Motor Trades (+14.2%), Clothing, Footwear & Textiles (+12.8%), Pharmaceuticals, Medical & Cosmetic Articles (+11.0%) and Electrical Goods (+5.5%).

According to the CSO, the proportion of retail sales transacted online (from Irish registered companies) decreased to 5.6% in December from 12.4% in November.

The value of retail sales was 14.7% higher in December 2020 than in November. The annual change in the value of retail sales was an increase of 3.4%. Excluding Motor Trades, the value of retail sales increased by 12.7% in the month and grew by 1.3% on an annual basis.