Retail Trade - December 2006

In December, seasonally adjusted sales in ‘retail trade except of motor vehicles and motorcycles’ increased by 0.5% month-on-month at constant prices. Not seasonally adjusted sales grew by 4.7% year-on-year, seasonally adjusted by 7.5%. The biggest share in the growth of total sales had non-specialised stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating and specialised stores with household goods (approx. 40% respectively 30%). Yearly, sales increased the most since 1997 (by 6.5%), i.e. since the beginning of the introduction of statistical sample surveys in retail trade.
Seasonally adjusted retail sales (CZ-NACE 52) grew by 0.5% month-on-month at constant prices in December, of which non-food goods increased by 0.8%, food, beverages and tobacco by 0.1%. The growth of the trend component shows a long-term stability, its increases have been ranging from 0.4 to 0.6% for 21 months. In December, this component grew identically as in the previous three months by 0.5%. (Table 1).

Graph 1
Seasonally adjusted sales increased by 7.5% year-on-year at constant prices. In December, not seasonally adjusted sales grew by 4.7% (December 2006 had two working days less than December 2005), of which sales of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 5.1% and sales of non-food goods by 4.6%.

The following contributed most to the total growth in December: non-specialised stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating and specialised stores with electrical household appliances, hardware, furniture and other household goods. The fastest growth occurred in stores with textiles, clothing and footwear and in stores with household goods. A drop was recorded in sale of pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles and also sale of second-hand goods (Table 3).

Broken down by size group of enterprises, the biggest sale growth occurred in enterprises with 100+ employees respectively with 50 to 99 employees (+8.2% and +7.3%, respectively). Enterprises in other size groups reported a growth from 0.8% to 1.7%.

The total deflator (compared to the corresponding period of previous year) was 100.4%. Higher prices were recorded in stores selling food, beverages and tobacco, in both specialised and non-specialised prices (+1.7% and +1.2%, respectively), similarly in stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles (+1.8%), in stores with other non-food goods (+1.1%) and in sale via stalls and other non-store retail sales (+0.5%). The biggest drop in prices was recorded for specialised stores with textiles, clothing and footwear (-4.5%).

In December, according to data released by Eurostat, seasonally adjusted constant price retail sales in the EU25 were up by 0.7% month-on-month and by 3.3% year-on-year (working days adjusted). Among member states for which data were available, sales increased year-on-year in Latvia (+27.2%), Estonia (+19.1%), Poland (+12.3%), Sweden (+11.0%), Lithuania (+7.3%), Slovakia (+6.5%), Finland (+5.9%), Spain (+4.5%), the United Kingdom (+4.4%), Denmark (+4.3%), Austria (+3.7%), Luxembourg (+2.8%), France (+2.4%), Germany (+1.8%) and Portugal (+0.5%). Prices dropped in Belgium (-3.9%) and Slovenia (-2.5%).
In the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50) not seasonally adjusted sales increased by 3.6% year-on-year at constant prices; sale of automotive fuel by 3.8% and sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles increased by 3.6%.

In retail trade incl. the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 52+50), seasonally adjusted sales at constant prices increased by 0.5% month-on-month and not seasonally adjusted sales by 4.4% year-on-year.
In the year 2006 retail sales (CZ-NACE 52) grew by 6.5% at constant prices, which was the highest growth since the beginning of statistical sample survey in retail trade, i.e. since 1997. The growth had been stable the whole year; there were no month-on month drops of sales. Sales grew faster in the 1st half-year than in the 2nd; in all of the months of 2006 the increases ranged from 4 – 8%. Among the individual size groups of enterprises the highest dynamics occurred in enterprises with 50+ employees. Growth of sales in stores with food, beverages or tobacco was in individual months of 2006 in the range from 1.5% to 6.7%, for non-food goods in the range from 4.6% to 10.5%.

Sales in the individual assortment types of stores developed as follows:
- sales in non-specialised stores grew by 6.9 %, of which in non-specialised stores with non-food goods predominating by 11.2% and in stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating by 5.7%;
- sales in specialised stores increased by 6.3%, in stores with non-food goods sales increased by 7.2% while in stores with food, beverages and tobacco sales dropped by 0.2%;

- in specialised stores with non-food goods sales grew markedly for clothing, textile and footwear (+17.9%), and electronics, electrical appliances, hardware, furniture and other household articles (+11.0%). Sales for the so called other non-food goods increased by 6.8%. A drop was recorded in pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles (-2.2%);

- sales were higher in sale via mail order houses (+8.9%), in sale of second-hand goods in stores (+1.8%) and in sale via stalls and markets and other non-store retail sale (+0.2%).

In the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50) growth of sales by +6.3% was contributed to by repair and maintenance of motor vehicles (+7.1%) and also by sale of automotive fuel (+4.8%). Sale of motor vehicles grew in all months of 2006, the most in Q1, the least in Q2. Sale of automotive fuel grew most in April and November on the other hand it dropped below last year’s comparable level in March.

The year-on-year growth of retail sale including the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50+52) was 6.4% at constant price.

Analysis - Sales in retail trade in the 4th quarter of 2006

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Note
1) The whole time series is seasonally adjusted every month; indices in the graph are changed retroactively.

Contact: Alena Hellerová, tel. (+420) 274052921, e-mail: alena.hellerova@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO direct survey in enterprises
End of data collection: 5 February 2007
End of data processing: 8 February 2007
The data for December 2006 are preliminary, final data for all months of 2006 will be known in June 2007 at the latest.
Monthly data since 1997 are available as time series ( /slu_ts )