Retail Trade - October 2008

In October, seasonally adjusted (SA) sales in retail trade except of automotive segment decreased by 0.7% month-on-month at constant prices; by 0.1%, year-on-year. Not seasonally adjusted (NSA) sales decreased by 2.3%, of which for food, beverages and tobacco by 2.8% and for the non-food goods by 2.0%. In the automotive segment, SA sales at constant prices were 1.3% down, m-o-m, and 1.8%, y-o-y; NSA sales were down by 5.2%, y-o-y, while sales from the sale of motor vehicles dropped by 8.6%. SA sales in hotels and restaurants dropped by 0.9%, m-o-m, and NSA sales were 5.5% down, y-o-y.
In October, SA sales in retail trade (CZ-NACE 52) at constant prices dropped by 0.7% month-on-month, of which for food, beverages and tobacco by 1.2% and sales from the sale of non-food goods by 0.3%. The month-on-month growth of the trend component, which in the previous 13 months showed minimum changes (from 0.0 to 0.1%), indicates that the sales in retail trade stagnated for more than a year (Table 3).

Graph 1
Year-on-year, adjusted for working day effects (October 2008 had one working day less than October 2007), sales in retail trade dropped by 1.1% at constant prices; and with seasonal adjustment by 0.1%, of which for the non-food goods sales increased by 1.6%. NSA sales in retail trade dropped by 2.3%, of which sales from the sale of food, beverages and tobacco by 2.8% and sales from the sale of non-food goods by 2.0%.

Total drop of sales in October was most contributed to by specialised stores with other non-food goods and by non-specialized stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating, which are open mostly only on working days responding thus sensitively to a changing number of working days, y-o-y. Overall, October has only one working day less but compared to 2007 two Tuesdays, which are the most important sales days for the non-food goods, were missing. Growth was reported only for specialized stores with furniture, lighting equipment, household articles, electrical appliances, radio and television goods, hardware, paints and glass and for less important retail trade via Internet or mail-order houses and the sale of second-hand goods (Table 2).

The price deflator related to October 2007 was 102.7%. The biggest price increase was recorded in stores with food, beverages and tobacco, of which in specialized stores by 7.1% and in non-specialized stores by 5.8%. Prices in stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles grew by 4.9%, in retail sale via stand sales and other sale operated outside stores prices increased by 2.8% and in non-specialised stores with non-food goods predominating by 2.0%. In contrast, price decreases were recorded in stores with household articles (-1.5%), in sale via mail order houses (-1.4%), in stores with second-hand goods (-1.0%), in stores with textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (-0.4%) and in stores with other non-food goods (-0.2%).

In October, according to data released by Eurostat, SA retail sales at constant prices in the EU27 were down by 0.3% month-on-month and by 0.8% year-on-year (working day adjusted). Among the member states for which data were available, year-on-year sales increases were recorded in Romania (+9.4%), Poland (+5.1%), Slovakia (+4.6.%), Bulgaria (+2.8%), Slovenia (+2.5%), the United Kingdom (+2.4%), in Finland (+1.4%) and in Lithuania (+0.9%). Sales dropped in Latvia (-14.4%), Estonia (-8.5%), Spain (-7.8%), Denmark (-5.4%), Germany (-1.5%), Luxembourg (-1.4%), Austria (-1.1%), Sweden (-0.7%), Portugal (-0.5%) and in Belgium (-0.1%).
In the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50), SA sales at constant prices dropped by 1.3% month-on-month and by 1.8% year-on-year. NSA sales decreased by 5.2%, year-on-year, while sales from the sale of motor vehicles dropped by 8.6% and the automotive fuel sales increased by 2.3%.

In retail trade, incl. the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 52 + 50), SA sales at constant prices decreased by 0.9% month-on-month and by 0.6% year-on-year. NSA sales dropped by 3.3%, year-on-year.

In hotels and restaurants (CZ-NACE 55), SA sales at constant prices decreased by 0.9% month-on-month. NSA sales decreased by 5.5%, year-on-year, in which sales in hotels, camping sites and other provisions of short-stay accommodation by 7.4% and in restaurants, canteens and catering by 4.7%.

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Notes
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: 9 December 2008
End of data processing: 12 December 2008
The data for October 2008 are preliminary, data for three previous months are revised; 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 )