Fuel sales grew 5.8% and non-food item sales grew 2.8% in 2015, the data showed.
In December 2015, retail sales grew 8.6% compared with November, with a 23.3% growth in sales of food items, 5.8% growth in non-food items, and a 9.5% decline in fuel sales. In seasonally adjusted data, retail sales grew just 0.6% on the month in December.
Compared with December 2014, retail sales grew 15.5% in unadjusted data and 13% in adjusted terms. Food sales grew more than 25% in both adjusted and non-adjusted data, sparked by a five-point cut in the value-added tax on food items, introduced in June 2015.