Retail Trade - March 2010

In March, seasonally adjusted (SA) sales in retail trade including automotive segment increased month-on-month by 2.0% at constant prices and by 0.5% in the year-on-year comparison. The y-o-y growth of seasonally non-adjusted sales by 3.9% owed mainly to the higher number of working days and sale of motor vehicles.
With seasonal, calendar and working day adjustment sales in retail trade including automotive segment increased in March by 2.0%, at constant prices, m-o-m, and by 0.5% in the year-on-year comparison (with only WDA +1.6%). Year-on-year growth of non-adjusted sales by 3.9% was owed mainly to the higher number of working days (+1), growth of sale of motor vehicles (+3.2 p.p.) and also higher sale of food, beverages and tobacco (+1.1 p.p.), which in the end of the month already reacted to the forthcoming Easter. March growth of sales came after 17 months of decline.
Seasonally adjusted sales in sale and repair of motor vehicles (CZ-NACE 45) increased by 5.3% at constant prices, m-o-m, and in the year-on-year comparison by 5.0%. Seasonally non-adjusted sales increased, y-o-y, by 10.2%, of which sales from the sale of motor vehicles increased by 12.3% and sales from repair dropped by 0.6%. The sale of motor vehicles grew mainly thanks to the higher number of working days (+1) and long-term price decrease (-7.5% in March).
In retail sale including sale of automotive fuel (CZ-NACE 47) seasonally adjusted sales increased, m-o-m, by 0.7% at constant prices, and decreased by 1.3% in the year-on-year comparison. Seasonally non-adjusted sales increased by 1.2%, y-o-y, of which sales of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 4.5%, while sales of fuel and the non-food goods dropped by 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively.

Year-on-year growth of sales owed mainly to retail sale in non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating (+1.6 p.p.), namely thanks to the fastest growth of the observed assortments (+4.9%) and marked share in total sales (35.5%). Growing were also sales from the sale of information and communication equipment (+4.8%), sale of goods via the Internet and mail order houses (+4.7%), second-hand goods (+4.7%), culture and recreation products (+3.6%), clothing and footwear (+2.4%), retail sale via stalls and markets (+1.7%), other retail sale in non-specialised stores (+0.6%) and retail sale of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (+0.5%). On the contrary, decrease was reported for retail sale of other household equipment in specialised stores (e.g. electrical appliances, furniture and related products, hardware, paints and glass), pharmaceutical and medical goods, automotive fuel in specialised stores and other retail sale not in stores, stalls or markets.

The price deflator related to the corresponding period of the previous year was 100.7%. A marked price increase was recorded in the sale of fuel (+19.0%), markedly smaller increase was reported for prices of pharmaceutical and medical goods (+2.4%). By contrast, the biggest price drops were reported for prices of information and communication equipment (-9.0%), second-hand goods (-6.1%), culture and recreation products (-3.5%), clothing and footwear (-3.5%), goods sold via the Internet or mail order houses (-3.3%) and in other retail sale in non-specialized stores (-3.3%).

In March, according to data released by Eurostat, SA retail sales (CZ-NACE 47) in the EU27 remained unchanged month-on-month, working day adjusted sales increased by 0.3%, year-on-year. The fastest growth rates were reported for Finland (+7.4%), Denmark (+4.4%) and Sweden (+2.8%), while the deepest drops of sales were in Bulgaria (-11.6%), Lithuania (-10.6%) and Latvia (-7.4%).

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Methodological note:
Contact: Alena Hellerová, tel. (+420) 274052921, e-m ail: alena.hellerova@csu.gov.cz
Data source: CZSO direct survey in enterprises
End of data collection: 29 April 2010
End of data processing: 4 May 2010
The data for March 2010 are preliminary; final data for all months of 2010 will be available in June 2011 at the latest. Base and y-o-y indices from 2000 and 2001 are available in time series
( /sales_indices_monthly_retail_trade_hotels_and_restaurants_time_series ).