Sales of non-food products posted the highest monthly growth, as they were up 6.9% from December in data adjusted for the number of working days and seasonal factors. Fuel sales were up 2.3% on the month in January, while sales of food, drinks and tobacco rose 5.1%.
In annual terms, adjusted retail sales advanced 2.4% in January, supported by higher demand in most sectors, INS data showed.
Food sales rose 6.6% on the year in January, and sales of non-food items were up 3.9%. However, fuel sales were down 1.5% from January 2012.
In unadjusted data, retail sales were down 23.4% in January from a month earlier, but were up 2.8% compared with the same period of 2012.