Services - 1. quarter of 2005
Publication Date: 17. 05. 2005
Product Code: e-9006-05
Services in the 1st quarter of 2005
Sales in observed kinds of services were up by 2.6% y-o-y at constant prices , the number of working days and calendar days being by one lower than in 2004; unlike 2004, Easter in 2005 was already in March. Working days adjusted and seasonally adjusted sales grew by 3.0%.
Table 1 Sales indices in services
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
2004 | 2005 | |||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Year | Q1 | |
| Services | 103.6 | 104.7 | 102.0 | 102.8 | 103.2 | 102.6 |
| Retail trade total (CZ-NACE 50, 52, 55) | 101.8 | 102.6 | 101.3 | 103.8 | 102.4 | 103.2 |
| Transport, post and telecommunications (CZ-NACE 60-64) | 107.8 | 110.6 | 104.5 | 102.4 | 106.2 | 100.8 |
| Selected market services (CZ-NACE 72, 74, 93) | 105.0 | 104.5 | 100.5 | 100.1 | 102.2 | 103.5 |
Table 2 Retail sales indices
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
2004 | 2005 | |||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Year | Q1 | |
| Retail trade incl. automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50, 52) | 101.2 | 102.5 | 101.8 | 104.3 | 102.5 | 103.9 |
| Automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50) | 97.5 | 101.5 | 100.8 | 105.8 | 101.6 | 105.1 |
| Retail trade (CZ-NACE 52) | 102.9 | 103.0 | 102.3 | 103.6 | 103.0 | 103.3 |
| Hotels and restaurants (CZ-NACE 55) | 108.7 | 103.8 | 95.7 | 98.1 | 101.3 | 95.3 |
Sales in retail trade incl. the automotive segment were up by 1.4 percentage points more than the average in the year 2004. Sales in the automotive segment grew faster than the average in 2004 and faster than in retail trade. Automotive fuel sold best (+7.4%), compared to 2004. Also sale of motor vehicles , which is more important in terms of weight, was successful (+4.6%). According to statistics of the Automotive Industry Association, the number of first registrations of new motor vehicles rose by 2.7%, of which those of cars dropped and of utility cars and trucks grew. Both sale of food (+3.4%) and sale of non-food goods (+3.2%) contributed to higher retail sales . Due to Easter being already in March, sale of food grew mainly in that month (+6.0%). Among non-food goods sold in specialised stores, sale of textile, clothing and footwear recorded the highest increase (+8.5%), followed by sale of pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles (+4.5%). Higher sale of electronics, furniture and household and DIY articles by 3.6% was affected particularly by favourable development in January. Sale of books, magazines, stationery, sports equipment, music, computers and other non-food goods grew by 2.6%. Among less important kinds of sale, sale via mail order houses recorded a growth of 9.0% in the 1st quarter of 2005. Like in the whole year 2004, sale of second-hand goods was falling (-21.5%). Situation in hotels and restaurants did not change markedly, compared to the 2nd half of 2004, and sales continued decreasing due to the development in restaurants, bars and canteens where VAT was raised in May 2004. Sales in hotels were very high in the 1st quarter of 2004, yet they grew by 2.7% in the 1st quarter of 2005. Unlike expectations, the lowest growth was recorded in March; many foreign tourists probably spent Easter in alpine surroundings and put the journey to the Czech Republic and particularly to Prague back to a later time.
Table 3 Sales indices in transport, post and telecommunications
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
2004 | 2005 | |||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Year | Q1 | |
| Transport (CZ-NACE 60-63) | 109.0 | 113.8 | 105.5 | 102.3 | 107.5 | 99.2 |
| Land transport; transport via pipelines (CZ-NACE 60) | 104.7 | 110.3 | 102.4 | 103.2 | 105.1 | 100.3 |
| Water transport (CZ-NACE 61) | 88.8 | 96.9 | 160.1 | 156.7 | 119.0 | 179.0 |
| Air transport (CZ-NACE 62) | 120.1 | 126.2 | 103.5 | 106.4 | 112.2 | 103.9 |
| Supporting and auxiliary transport activities; activities of travel agencies (CZ-NACE 63) | 114.2 | 117.2 | 109.5 | 100.2 | 109.8 | 96.6 |
| Post and telecommunications (CZ-NACE 64) | 105.4 | 103.4 | 102.2 | 102.6 | 103.4 | 103.9 |
Sales in transport were down y-o-y in the 1st quarter of 2005 for the first time in two years. Development in individual kinds of transport varied. Transportation of oversupplies of agricultural production from 2004 to European seaports was the reason for the highest growth of water transport (+79.0%) since the 3rd quarter of 1997. Higher sales in air transport (+3.9%) were connected with the extension of predominantly regular flights, while sales in non-regular transport dropped. In transport by road, growth of sales slowed down considerably, compared to 2004; in transport via railways, sales slightly dropped (-0.2%); and in transport via pipelines, sales were below the high comparing base of 2004 (-12.7%). The fall in supporting and auxiliary transport activities (-3.4%) was connected with the removal of customs procedure in imports and exports of goods from and to the EU member states.
Sales in post and telecommunications increased only due to growing telecommunications. The lower use of post services was probably affected by the increase in their prices in February. While sales were up y-o-y in January, February and March saw decreases (-3.8% in total in the 1st quarter).
Table 4 Sales indices in selected market services
(Corresponding period of previous year = 100, constant prices)
2004 | 2005 | |||||
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Year | Q1 | |
| Computer and related activities CZ-NACE 72) | 102.2 | 111.0 | 98.4 | 91.5 | 99.0 | 112.0 |
| Other business activities (CZ-NACE 74) | 105.8 | 103.5 | 101.1 | 102.7 | 103.2 | 101.8 |
| Other service activities (CZ-NACE 93) | 97.1 | 95.2 | 95.8 | 95.3 | 95.8 | 98.7 |
Sales in computer and related activities rose by 12.0% in the 1st quarter of 2005. They were boosted by an all-time record growth of software consultancy and supply (+18.4%). Other CZ–NACE activities recorded a similar development like in 2004. Sales in maintenance and repair of office, accounting and computing machinery dropped (-5.8%), and so did sales in database activities (–7.6%).
Compared to the year 2004, growth of other business activities slowed down to 1.8%. This was affected by the development in architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy, which was the only CZ-NACE activity within other business activities where a decrease was reported. Labour recruitment and provision of personnel kept on being the most dynamic CZ–NACE activity, although a double-digit growth was not reached like in 2004 (+7.6%). Also sales in legal, accounting, bookkeeping and auditing activities and tax consultancy (+5.9%) and sales in advertising (+4.5%) grew.
The trend in other service activities (predominantly of personal nature) continued falling and sales did not again reach the level of comparable period of 2004 (-1.3%).
CZ-NACE 50, 52, 55, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 72, 74, 93 – Services
CZ-NACE 50, 52, 55 – Retail trade total
CZ-NACE 50, 52 – Retail trade incl. automotive segment
CZ-NACE 50 – Automotive segment
CZ-NACE 52 – Retail trade
CZ-NACE 60, 61, 62, 63, 64 – Transport, post and telecommunications
CZ-NACE 72, 74, 93 – Selected market services