Bars saw a dramatic increase in business in the first month of this year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), with figures showing the annual volume of sales increased by 499 per cent.
However, the CSO warned this is not a true reflection of growth, as the corresponding figures for January 2021 were so low due to long closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
To illustrate this point, the CSO added that January 2022's annual sales volume was 42.3 per cent below that of January 2020, before the onset of the pandemic in Ireland.
The largest monthly sales volume decrease was noted in pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic products, down 14.9 per cent on December 2021 figures, followed by hardware, paints and glass (down 14.1 per cent).
However, the annual January sales appear to have been too good for shoppers to resist, with clothing and footwear sales up 31.4 per cent, in addition to a 14.6 per cent increase for electrical goods.
Overall, the volume of retail sales was 1.5 per cent higher last month than before the pandemic in January 2020, but down 1.5 per cent when compared to December 2021 figures.
The proportion of online sales also fell to 5.8 per cent last month, down from 11 per cent in January 2021.
