29th Apr 2025 11:16
(Alliance News) - Ireland's on-year economic growth continued to accelerate in the first quarter, while retail sales declined monthly in March, data published by the Central Statistics Office showed Tuesday.
The country's on-year gross domestic product growth sped up to 13.3% in the first quarter, from 9.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, GDP had declined by 4.5%.
Quarterly however, economic growth slowed to 3.2% in the first quarter of 2025, from 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024. In the first quarter of 2024, quarterly GDP growth had stood at 1.6%.
Separately, CSO reported that retail sales volumes fell 0.9% monthly in March. They were 1.3% lower than a year ago.
The sharpest monthly decline was in department stores, down 3.8%, followed by pharmaceuticals, medical & cosmetic articles, down 3.3%.
The best monthly growth in volumes were in hardware, paint & glass, up 11%, followed by motor trades, up 1.0%.
The largest annual decline was in bars with a fall of 9.9%, followed by fuel with 3.1%.
The sharpest annual climb in volumes was in hardware, paints & glass with 7.8%, followed by clothing, footwear & textiles with 6.7%.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.