Bar volumes down 11% in February

At 3.5 per cent, bars were among the main contributors to the monthly increase in retail sales volumes which increased by 0.2 per cent overall in March 2012 compared to the previous month February but there was an annual decrease of 1.0 per cent in overall retail sales according to first estimates from the CSO.

Seasonally-adjusted sales volumes for bars were 5.1 per cent down on March 2011 while sales values were down 4.3 per cent for the year but they were up 2.1 per cent on the previous month, February 2012.

Final figures for February 2012 indicate that sales volumes in bars fell 10.8 per cent on the previous February while they were down 4.4 per cent compared to January. Sales values were down a similar 9.7 per cent for the year and by 2.7 per cent compared to the previous month, January.

Over the three-month period January to March bar sales volumes were down 7.9 per cent on the same period in 2011 and by 4.2 per cent over the October to December 2011 period at a time when sales values were down 7.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively.