Retail volumes slip in December

Growth in retail volumes slipped in December, according to data released by the Statistical Service CYSTAT.

The figures show that the total volume of retail sales rose by just 1.6% compared with the same month of the previous year iin December, having risen by 8.7% year on year in November.

However, Financial Mirror analysis shows that for the quarter as a whole, the picture was more positive than in the third quarter: retail sales rose by 2.5% year on year in the fourth quarter, compared with a decline of 0.6% year on year in the third.

The new layout for retail sales figures, no doubt dictated by European Union standards, makes interpretation of the data more difficult than in the past.

For example, the figures show that sales at “non-specalised stores not selling food, beverages or tobacco rose by 5.7% year on year in December, but it is anyone’s guess what these non-specialised, non-food stores are.

Judging from the categories which one can actually recognise, food sales seemed to do well in December, as did sales of furniture and household items.

On the other hand, sales of pharmaceuticals and clothing declined compared with the same period of the previous year.

Fiona Mullen