Retail Trade - November 2004
The highest y-o-y growth of retail sales since September 2003
Publication Date: 17. 01. 2005
Product Code: r-9101-04
Month-on-month comparison:
In November 2004, compared with October, seasonally adjusted (SA) constant price retail sales incl. the automotive segment stagnated. A fall in sales in the automotive segment (-1.4%) was offset by growth of the remaining retail sales (+0.7%). Sales of non-food goods and food rose (+0.8% and +0.4%, respectively).
Year-on-year comparison :
SA constant price retail sales grew by 4.6%, of which by 5.4% in the automotive segment and by 4.2% in the remaining retail trade (of which sale of food +4.2% and sale of non-food goods +4.1%). Sales were on the increase in all the main assortment types of stores, in particular in sale of textiles, clothing and footwear (+17.1%) and sale of motor vehicles (+7.6%).
Not SA sales rose by 8.0%, which is most since September 2003. Higher growth has been recorded only in five other months since January 1997; the November 2004 increase is affected by a higher number of working days (+2) in the month against November 2003 and by the low comparing base of November 2003 for some types of stores.
Record-breaking sales were recorded in the automotive segment (+12.3%); sale of motor vehicles rose by 16.2%, sale of automotive fuel by 9.9%, and maintenance and repair of motor vehicles grew by 7.6%. Information of sellers suggests that particularly light utility cars sold well.
Sales in retail trade (excl. the automotive segment) rose by 6.0%, of which sale of non-food goods by 6.6% and sale of food by 5.2%.
Sales in the individual assortment types of stores developed as follows:
- sales in non-specialised stores increased by 4.7%. Growth was 5.5% in stores selling predominantly non-food goods and 4.4% in stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating. The latter assortment type is dominated by enterprises with 100 or more employees, which raised their share in sales by nearly 12 percentage points to 78.8% in the last two years;
- in specialised stores , sale of food, beverages and tobacco grew faster (+9.3%) than sale of non-food goods (+6.4%); enterprises with 100 or more employees raised their share by 8.0 percentage points to 24.9% in the last two years;
- Christmas shopping boosted sales in specialised stores with textiles, clothing and footwear (+17.8%), pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles (+7.0%), electrical appliances, hardware, furniture and other household goods (+5.5%), and other non-food goods (+4.7%);
- extraordinary sales were recorded for mail order houses (+30.4%), also demand for sale via stalls and markets and door-to-door selling was higher (+11.8%).
International comparison :
In November, according to Eurostat estimates, SA retail sales excl. the automotive segment in the EU25 grew by 0.4% m-o-m and by 2.3% y-o-y adjusted for working days. Among EU Member States, for which the data were available, sales increased y-o-y in Denmark (+13.1%), Sweden (+8.0%), United Kingdom (+5.9%), Poland (+5.7%), Luxembourg (+4.9%), France (+3.5%), Spain (+3.2%), Belgium (+2.3%) and Portugal (+1.5%). On the other hand, they fell in Germany (-3.0%). According to the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, not SA retail sales in Slovakia grew by 4.7% y-o-y.
Note :
In terms of methodology, the results of the statistical survey on sale of motor vehicles are not comparable with the data given by the Automotive Industry Association, for the latter include only sale of new motor vehicles in physical units (in pieces). The statistical survey embraces sales by enterprises selling not only new but also second-hand cars, also sale of spare parts incl. wholesale trade.
Contact: Alena Hellerová, phone (+420) 274 052 921, e-mail: ahellerova@gw.czso.cz
Data source: CZSO direct survey in enterprises
End of data collection: 5 January 2005
End of data processing: 11 January 2005
Related publication: 9106-04 Monthly Survey in Retail Trade, Hotels and Restaurants ( /1-ep-9 )
The data are preliminary; revised data for November 2004 will be published in following two monthly News Releases; definitive data for each month of the year 2004 will be known in June 2005.