Retail sales were broadly flat in May as Irish consumers continued to grapple with higher fuel prices.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) data indicated the volume of sales was unchanged last month while being up by a moderate 0.8 per cent in the 12 months to May.
The agency noted the fuel sector experienced a 2 per cent monthly value decrease in May but was up by 7 per cent by value when compared with May 2025.
By volume, fuel sales fell 0.1 per cent in the month and by 4.6 per cent in the year.
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“The continued divergence of value and volume reflects the inflation currently being experienced in the sector,” the CSO said.
The cost of transport fuels (petrol and diesel) and home heating oil has surged since the war in Iran and the disruption to global energy.
And while the price of oil has come down in recent weeks general inflation is expected to remain elevated for months, dampening the purchasing power of households here.
Excluding notoriously volatile car sales, the monthly volume of retail sales in the Republic was up by 0.2 per cent in May and grew by 0.4 per cent in the year, the latest CSO figures show.
Sectors with the largest monthly volume increases were furniture and lighting (2.1 per cent), car sales (1.8 per cent), and other retail sales (1.5 per cent).
Conversely the largest monthly volume decreases were recorded in food, beverages and tobacco (-4.5 per cent), pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles (-1.9 per cent), and bars (-0.9 per cent).
Separately Dutch and British gas prices rose on Monday due to uncertainty over shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iran and the United States agreed to halt recent hostilities in the Gulf and Middle East.
The cost of energy here is heavily reliant on international gas prices.
“Prices may glean some support from the fragile and fluid situation in the Middle East. More ships (were) attacked in the Strait of Hormuz as well as renewed attacks by Iran and the U.S. over the weekend,” Wayne Bryan, head of European gas research at LSEG, said in a daily research note.
Additional reporting by Reuters
