Fuel sales were down 5.2% on the month in September, while sales of food, drinks and tobacco inched down 0.1%. Sales of non-food items, however, rose 1.7% from the previous month. The data are adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors.
In annual terms, adjusted retail sales rose 5.1% in September, boosted by higher demand in all sectors, INS data showed.
Food sales rose 5.9% on the year in September, while fuel and non-food sales increased 4.7% and 3.6% on the year, respectively.
In the first nine months, adjusted retail sales were up 4.3% compared with the year-earlier period.
In unadjusted data, retail sales were down 4.9% in September from a month earlier but were up 2.9% compared with the same period of 2011.