Northern Ireland car sales experience freak rise after Covid-hit 2020

Sales of new cars in Northern Ireland rose by an annual rate of nearly 14,000% in April, according to industry data.

The freak rise reflects the fact that car showrooms were closed due to lockdown in April 2020.

That meant just 24 new cars were sold that month, compared to 3,295 in April this year.

On a rolling year-to-date basis, car sales were also up, but by a more modest 10%.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said a full recovery of the new car industry "is still some way off".

A total of 141,583 new cars were registered in the UK in April which dwarfed the total of 4,321 recorded in the same month in 2020.

• Number of new cars sold in NI plunges by 99%

• UK car sales plunge to lowest level since 1946

• Surge in post-lockdown car sales in NI

But it is 12.9% lower than the April average between 2010 and 2019.

Ulster Bank economist Richard Ramsey said it was important to "treat mega growth rates with a mega pinch of salt".

"Context is everything here. The huge increase is a reflection of how bad April 2020 was, rather than how strong activity is this year," he said.

"This is what economists call 'base effects', in this case rebounding off an extremely low base."