Retail Trade - January 2008

In January, seasonally adjusted sales in retail trade except of automotive segment grew by 0.4%, month-on-month, at constant prices, and by 4.9%, year-on-year, not seasonally adjusted by 3.3%. The growth came mainly from the non-food goods sale in specialized stores. Seasonally adjusted sales in automotive segment decreased by 1.0%, month-on-month, in the year-on-year comparison they increased by 5.7% and not seasonally adjusted by 6.0%. Seasonally adjusted sales in hotels and restaurants stagnated, m-o-m, and not seasonally adjusted grew by 4.6%, year-on-year.
Seasonally adjusted sales in retail trade (CZ-NACE 52) increased in January by 0.4%, month-on-month, at constant prices, both from the sale of food, beverages and tobacco and the non-food goods sale. The trend component increased, month-on-month, by 0.3% (Table 3).

Graph 1
Year-on-year, after seasonal and working day adjustments (the same number of working days in January 2007 and 2008) sales increased by 4.9% at constant prices. Not seasonally adjusted sales increased by 3.3% of which sales from food, beverages and tobacco by 0.7% and the non-food goods sales by 5.1%. In non-specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating the sales in January increased by 1.2%, y-o-y, in specialized food stores sales dropped by 2.3%.

The biggest contribution to the total sales growth in January was attributed to stores with other non-food goods and to specialized stores with electronics, electrical appliances, furniture and other household articles. The fastest growth recorded sales in retail trade with insignificant contribution to the total growth operated via Internet or mail-order houses. Sales in stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles recorded a drop by 7.1% which probably came from pre-supplies of medicals recorded by the end of the last year (Table 2).

Broken by size groups of enterprises the biggest growth of sales occurred in enterprises with 20 to 49 employees (by 6.6%) and in enterprises with 100+ employees (by 5.9%). In other size groups the growth ranged from 0.2% to 2.5%.

The price deflator (related to the corresponding period of the previous year) was 104.9% (103.9% in December and 103.8% in November). The biggest price increase was recorded in food stores of which in specialized stores by 13.2% and in non-specialized stores by 10.5%. In stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles prices increased by 6.3%, in retail sale via stand sales and other sale operated outside stores by 5.7% and in non-specialized stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating by 3.4%. In contrast, in sale via mail order houses prices dropped by 1.9%, in stores with textiles, footwear and leather goods by 1.7% with second-hand goods by 1.6%, with household articles by 1.1% and with other non-food goods by 0.7%.

In January, according to data released by Eurostat, seasonally adjusted constant price retail sales in the EU27 increased by 0.6%, month-on-month, and, in the year-on-year comparison, by 1.8%, (working days adjusted). Among member states for which data were available, year-on-year sales increases were recorded in Slovakia (+15.6%), Bulgaria (+14.8%), Lithuania (+14.5%), Poland (+8.3%), the United Kingdom (+6.0%), Finland (+4.2%), Sweden (+3.5%), Portugal (+2.2%), Estonia (+1.1%), Austria (+0.8%), Germany (+0.6%) and in Luxembourg (+0.1%) while in Denmark no changes were recorded. Prices dropped in Spain (-2.4%), Belgium and Latvia (-0.7% both).
In the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50), seasonally adjusted sales dropped, month-on-month, at constant prices by 1.0% and, in contrast, in the year-on-year comparison they increased by 5.7%. Not seasonally adjusted sales increased year-on-year by 6.0% of which sales from retail sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles by 7.3% and from the sale of automotive fuel by 3.9%.

In retail trade incl. the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 52 + 50), seasonally adjusted sales at constant prices dropped by 0.1% month-on-month while in the year on year comparison they increased by 5.1%. Not seasonally adjusted sales grew by 4.1%, year-on-year.

In hotels and restaurants (CZ-NACE 55) seasonally adjusted sales showed no changes month-on-month while not seasonally adjusted sales increased by 4.6%, year on year. This growth came mainly from restaurants, bars and canteens where sales grew by 5.8%, while in hotels and camping sites sales increased only by 0.8%.

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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: 7 March 2008
End of data processing: 14 March 2008
The data for January 2008 are preliminary; final data for all months of 2008 will be available in June 2009 at the latest. Monthly data since 1997 are available in time series ( /sales_indices_monthly_retail_trade_hotels_and_restaurants_time_series )