Irish Retail Sales Rise Faster in January

Retail sales in Ireland decreased by 0.8% month-over-month in February 2026, reversing an upwardly revised 1.8% rise in the previous month. This marked the biggest fall since August 2025, mainly due to lower sales of clothing, footwear, and textiles (-4.4%), hardware, paints, and glass (-3.6%), and motor trades (-1.4%). Meanwhile, the strongest gains were seen in pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles (+6.4%), department stores (+1.1%), and books, newspapers, and stationery (+1.0%). On a yearly basis, retail trade rose by 0.8%, slowing from an upwardly 3.4% growth in January.

Retail sales in Ireland rose by 1.5% month-over-month in January 2026, the strongest increase since March 2024, following a revised 0.2% decrease in the prior month. The biggest increases in sales were seen for books, newspapers & stationery (+13.8%); hardware, paints & glass (+3.0%); clothing, footwear & textiles (+2.6%); and fuels (+2.0%). On the other hand, sales declined primarily for motor trades (-9.6%); pharmaceuticals, medical & cosmetic articles (-7.0%); and electrical goods (-2.8%). On a yearly basis, retail trade grew by 3%, the most in four months, after a revised 0.2% increase in the preceding month.

Retail sales in Ireland fell by 0.1% month-over-month in December 2025, reversing a revised 0.3% rise in November. The decline was mainly driven by weaker sales of books, newspapers and stationery (-9% versus -1.2%), fuel (-2.6% versus 0.9%), hardware, paints and glass (-2.5% versus 2.8%) and bars (-2.1% versus 3.8%). In contrast, sales increased for electrical goods (2% versus -0.7%), food, beverages and tobacco (1.7% versus -1.4%) and clothing, footwear and textiles (1.6% versus -0.7%), while growth slowed down for motor trades (2.5% versus 4.7%). On a yearly basis, retail trade decreased by 0.1% in December, the first decline since March 2025, following a revised 2.1% increase in November.