Bar Sales Increased Year On Year In January

According to the Retail Sales Index January 2023 (Provisional) and December 2022 (Final) report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the volume of sales in bars increased, year on year, in January 2023.

Details
The report, which was published on CSO.ie, states that there was a 20.2% annual increase in the volume of sales in bars in January 2023, but a 20.4% monthly decrease, while the volume of bar sales was 29.9% lower than the volume of sales recorded for pre-pandemic February 2020.

Food, Beverage And Tobacco (Specialised Store) Sales
Meanwhile, there was an 8.4% annual decrease in the volume of food, beverage and tobacco (specialised store) sales in January 2023, and also a 0.6% monthly increase in the volume of food, beverage and tobacco (specialised store) sales in the first month of this year, while the volume of food, beverage and tobacco (specialised store) sales was 56.5% higher than the volume of sales recorded for pre-pandemic February 2020, according to the CSO’s data.

Statement By Statistician
The report published on CSO.com quoted a statistician in the business statistics division, Stephanie Kelleher, as saying, “Retail sales rose by 0.1% in January 2023, when compared with December 2022, on a seasonally adjusted basis. On an annual basis, retail volumes were 3.0% higher than in January 2022.

“The highest monthly volume decreases were in bars – -20.4% – department stores – -5.0% – non-specialised stores, including supermarkets – -3.4% – and pharmaceuticals, medical & cosmetic articles – -2.8%. […] The largest annual volume increase was in bars – 20.2% – however, caution should be exercised with this level of growth, as it is compared with a low base from the previous year. Despite this large recovery, bar sales remained 29.9% lower than their pre-Covid-19 level in February 2020.”

Original article by Dave Simpson on hospitalityireland.com