Irish retail sales fell 4.3% month-on-month in February to stand 0.3% lower year-on-year, according to data on Friday that was collected before the coronavirus outbreak shut down most shops.

Ireland reported its first confirmed case of the virus on Feb. 29, shut pubs across the country in the middle of March and all non-essential retail this week.

When volatile motor sales were excluded from the February data, the volume of retail sales decreased by 2.4% month-on-month and were 1.6% higher on an annual basis, the Central Statistics Office said. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie