November’s bar sales volumes up 800%
Bar sales values showed a similar 751% spurt. However, compared to the previous month, October, November’s bar sales volumes fell 23% while values declined 28%.
Offering a more realistic comparison, last November’s bar sales volumes were down 29% on those of November 2019, according to the CSO, while bar sales values were down 31%.
“The exceptionally high annual volume increase in Bars (+800%) reflects the Level 5 Covid-19 restrictions in November 2020 when Bars were closed except for ancillary activities such as office (sic) licence sales,” states the CSO, “Despite this significant increase, the volume of sales in Bars is still 29.2% below the level of November 2019.”
Across the three-month period September 2021 to November 2021 the CSO’s provisional seasonally-adjusted figures indicate that bar sales volumes were up 190% compared to the same period in 2020 while values were up 191%.
Comparing this three-month period to the immediately preceding three months of June to August indicates a 39% rise in bar sales volumes and a 35% increase in values.
Final figures for October show bar sales volumes up 272% on those of October 2020, with values up 278%. A comparison of October’s bar sales volumes with those of the preceding month, September, indicates a rise in both volume and value of 18%.
Generally, retail sales volumes in November were up 16.3% on November 2020 and they were up 0.6% over the preceding month, October, with values up 24% and 0.3% respectively.