A recent surge in the registration of goods vehicles has been cited as further evidence of recovery in the consumer economy.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show more than 15,000 trucks have been licenced here in the past five months, a 33 per cent increase on the same period last year.
The figures show the number of new goods vehicles registered in May was 2,134, a 17.8 per cent jump on 12 months ago.
"Retail sales are now rising at their fastest ever rate, and this is forcing goods through the economy more quickly. As a result there has been a big increase in demand for supply chain factors such as goods vehicles and warehousing space," John McCartney of property company Savills said.
The CSO figures show new car sales for May were 9,027, 16 per cent up on the same month last year.
Significantly, the number of used private car imports licensed was 3,748, representing a 24.2 per cent fall, perhaps reflecting the falling value of euro against sterling, with most of the State’s car imports coming from the UK.
In the first five months of this year, there were 74,736 new private cars licensed, a rise of 26.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.
The most popular brand of new private cars licensed for the first time this year was Volkswagen (9,301) followed by Toyota (8,009), Ford (7,357), Nissan (6,916) and Hyundai (6,814).
