Retail Ireland Monitor February 2023

The performance of the retail sector over Christmas was broadly in line with expectations, given the inflationary dynamics in the economy. While December sales volumes were flat on last year, there was a significant 7.8% increase in the value of these sales (excluding motor trade and bars). There are very tentative positive signs in some of the data this month. Consumer sentiment is at a seven month high and inflation has edged down. However, the changes are relatively modest. There is a very long way to travel before we can lock in an upbeat outlook for 2023.