Sales of non-food items increased 2.5% on the year in the first quarter, while sales of food, drink and tobacco were up 2%, the data showed. Fuel sales, however, fell 2.3% in January through March from the year-earlier period.
The data are adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors.
In unadjusted data, first-quarter retail sales inched up 0.1% on the year, held back by a 4% decline in fuel sales.
In March alone, adjusted retail sales declined 0.6% from a month earlier and were down 0.8% compared with the same month of 2012. Unadjusted March sales rose 13.6% on the month, but fell 3.6% on the year.