Retail Trade - September 2008

In September, seasonally adjusted (SA) sales in retail trade except of automotive segment increased by 0.7% month-on-month at constant prices; by 1.2%, year-on-year. Not seasonally adjusted (NSA) sales increased by 4.7%, of which for food, beverages and tobacco by 0.2% and the non-food goods by 7.5% (the biggest growth for the last ten months owed, however, to higher number of working days). In the automotive segment, SA sales at constant prices were 1.0% up, m-o-m, and 3.6%, y-o-y; NSA sales were up by 8.5% y-o-y. SA sales in hotels and restaurants increased by 0.6%, m-o-m and NSA sales decreased by 1.6%, y-o-y.
In September, SA sales in retail trade (CZ-NACE 52) at constant prices increased by 0.7% month-on-month. Sales from the sale of food, beverages and tobacco increased by 0.6% and sales from the sale of non-food goods by 0.7%. The month-on-month growth of the trend component, which in the previous 12 months reached 0.1% and 0.0%, increased to 0.2% (Table 3).

Graph 1
Year-on-year, adjusted for working day effects (September 2008 had three working days more than September 2007), sales in retail trade increased by 1.9% at constant prices; and with also seasonal adjustment by 1.2%. NSA sales in retail trade rose by 4.7%, of which sales from the sale of food, beverages and tobacco by 0.2% and sales from the sale of non-food goods by 7.5%.

Total growth of sales in September was most contributed to by specialised stores with other non-food goods, specialised stores with furniture, lighting equipment, household articles, electrical appliances, radio and television goods, hardware, paints and glass and stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles. The most rapid growth was recorded for less important retail trade via Internet or mail-order houses. A big growth was also reported for the sale in specialized stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles, which was affected mainly by the low basis in September 2007 when sales in this particular month were the lowest (in the period from Q1 to Q3) while in 2008 sales reached the fourth biggest value (Table 2).


The price deflator related to September 2007 was 103.2%. The biggest price increase was recorded in stores with food, beverages and tobacco, of which in specialized stores by 8.5% and in non-specialized stores by 6.9%. Prices in stores with pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles grew by 5.3%, in retail sale via stand sales and other sale operated outside stores prices increased by 4.1% and prices in non-specialised stores with non-food goods predominating they increased by 2.5%. In contrast, price decreases were recorded in sale via mail order houses (-1.3%), in stores with household articles and second-hand goods (-1.2%), and in stores with textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (-0.7%). Prices of other non-food goods showed no changes.

In September, according to data released by Eurostat, SA retail sales at constant prices in the EU27 fell by 0.1% month-on-month and by 0.4% year-on-year (working day adjusted). Among the member states for which data were available, year-on-year sales increases were recorded in Romania (+15.0%), Poland (+7.1%), Slovakia (+4.5.%), Belgium (+4.2%), Bulgaria (+3.9%), Slovenia (+3.6%), Luxembourg and the United Kingdom (both +2.0%) and in France (+1.6%). Sales dropped in Latvia (-13.4%), Estonia (-9.9%), Spain (-7.1%), Denmark (-5.5%), Germany (-2.1%), Finland and Austria (both by -1.4%), Portugal (-0.4%) and in Lithuania (-0.2%).
In the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50), SA sales at constant prices increased by 1.0% month-on-month and by 3.6% year-on-year. NSA sales rose by 8.5% year-on-year, of which in sale, maintenance and repair of motor vehicles by 9.2% and in the sale of automotive fuel by 7.4%.

In retail trade, incl. the automotive segment (CZ-NACE 52 + 50), SA sales at constant prices increased by 0.8% month-on-month and by 2.0% year-on-year. NSA sales increased by 5.9%, year-on-year.

In hotels and restaurants (CZ-NACE 55), SA sales at constant prices increased by 0.6% month-on-month. NSA sales decreased by 1.6%, year-on-year. Sales in hotels, camping sites and other provisions of short-stay accommodation decreased by 5.8% while in restaurants, canteens and catering sales rose by 0.1%.

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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: 6 November 2008
End of data processing: 11 November 2008
The data for September 2008 are preliminary, data for the previous months are not 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 )