Irish Retail Sales Dip 0.2% in April, Driven by Clothing and Electrical Goods Declines

Irish retail sales experienced a 0.2 percent decline in volume in April compared to the previous month, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). This downturn was primarily attributed to reduced spending on clothing, department stores, and electrical goods. Annually, sales volumes were down by 0.5 percent from April 2025.

Specific sectors saw notable monthly decreases: clothing sales fell by 2.9 percent, while department stores and electrical goods both recorded a 2.0 percent drop. These figures align with broader annual spending trends, which show declines of 7.2 percent for clothing and 4.5 percent for department stores over the past 12 months.

Fuel sales also saw a marginal monthly decrease of 0.5 percent in value, suggesting a slight moderation from the 7.7 percent surge in fuel prices recorded against the backdrop of the global energy price shock following the US-Israeli attack on Iran. Despite this, fuel prices remained 10.6 percent higher than in April of the previous year, with the volume of fuel sales decreasing by only 2.6 percent over the same period.

Tommy Allen, a statistician in the CSO’s enterprise statistics division, commented that «fuel shortages experienced across the country in April 2026, along with reductions in fuel excise duty, likely contributed to the short-term decreases in value and volume, while the annual value increase remains high.» He added that «the continued divergence of value and volume reflects the inflation currently being experienced in the sector.» Conversely, April saw increased spending in books, newspapers, and stationery (+4.6 percent), food, beverages, and tobacco (+3.9 percent), and pharmaceuticals, medical, and cosmetic articles (+3.6 percent).