IBEC: 2007 ‘exceptionally’ strong for retail growth
IBEC today said that while growth in the retail sector has slowed somewhat in recent months, 2007 was the best year since the start of the decade.
Commenting on the CSO retail sales figures for November, IBEC Senior Economist Fergal O’Brien said: "There is no doubt that the rate of growth in retail sales has slowed significantly in recent months, but this has been off an exceptionally strong base over the past 18 months or so. Overall, we expect the retail sector to record in excess of 6% growth for 2007 and last year is likely to have been the best year for the sector since 2000. The volume of retail sales grew by 6.6% in the first 11 months of the year."
"Most parts of the retail sector performed strongly during 2007, with both the clothing and footwear sectors recording exceptional growth of about 14%. Despite the significant slowdown in housing, sales of related goods such as furniture, electrical and DIY goods were all up by 8%-9% during the year, although their performance did weaken in the second half of the year,” he added.
