Surging petrol and diesel prices trigger drop in fuel sales

“Sustained inflation” led to a drop in fuel sales in August, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).The agency’s latest retail sales numbers indicate fuel sales fell by 2.8 per cent during the month as the cost of transport fuel surged.Motorists are in the crosshairs of the latest global energy price shock with petrol and diesel prices breaching €2 and €2.15 a litre in many forecourts.Before the Iran crisis, prices for both fuels averaged €1.70 a litre.READ MOREThe value of fuel sales fell by 2.3 per cent in the month and rose by 5.4 per cent in the year, the CSO said.“Sustained inflation can be observed in the sector as annual value increases outpace volume of sales,” it said.Overall the volume of retail sales rose by 0.6 per cent in August and by 4.3 per cent in the 12 months from August 2025.Excluding volatile car sales, the monthly volume of sales was up 0.2 per cent in August and by 3 per cent in the year.The other main monthly decline was in sales of pharmaceuticals, medical and cosmetic articles, which fell 4.3 per cent.Sectors showing the largest monthly volume increases were furniture and lighting (2.6 per cent), clothing, footwear and textiles (2.2 per cent), and bars (1.9 per cent).The CSO said that all sectors showed annual volume growth, with the highest increases recorded in department stores (9 per cent), motor trades (7 per cent), and clothing, footwear and textiles (6.8 per cent).The spike in inflation, triggered by higher energy costs, is expected to negatively impact consumer spending trends in the coming months.But headline growth in the economy is still expected to be positive with the Central Bank, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and others predicting growth of 2 to 3 per cent this year and next.Separate figures from the CSO showed the headline rate of unemployment in the Irish economy was unchanged at 5 per cent in September.The agency said the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed was 149,500 in September, compared with 148,600 in August. There was a rise of 5,800 in the seasonally adjusted number of people unemployed in September 2026 when compared with September 2025, it said.“As we enter the final quarter of 2026, focus will switch from the unemployment rate to the volume of jobs being added to the economy,” Kate English, chief economist at Deloitte Ireland, said.“The pace of growth here has slowed over the past year and the Central Bank of Ireland has forecast that it will rise by 1.2 per cent this year,” she said.