Press Release 01/08/2014

RETAIL TRADE INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ICIm) 2nd quarter of 2014

Sales in the retail trade sector of the Basque Country rose by 0.9% in the second quarter of 2014

With regards to the previous quarter, the sales index registered a nominal increase of 0.9%

The retail trade sector of the Basque Country registered a 0.9% rise in nominal sales in the second quarter of 2014 with regards to the same period of the previous year, according to data provided by Eustat. Sales in the sector, not including service stations, were up by 1.2% in year-on-year terms.

With respect to the previous quarter, the sales index was up a nominal 0.9%, once any seasonal effects had been eliminated.

By sector, food products registered a drop of 3.5% in nominal sales in the second quarter of 2014, retail trade of other products saw a rise of 5.2% and sales of automotive fuel dropped by 2.1%, all with regards to the same period in 2013.

In the retail food sector, specialised trade was down by 2.5%, as non-specialised trade in mainly food products fell by 4.2%. In retail trade of other products, there was a rise in trade specialising in personal equipment (9.9%), in trade specialising in household equipment (4.0%), and in non-specialised trade in mainly other products (4.0%), and a fall in trade specialising in other consumer goods, which was down by 1.2%.

By Province, the only decrease in the second quarter of 2014 in nominal sales in the retail sector occurred in Álava, with a year-on-year fall of 0.8%. Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa increased their nominal sales by 0.8% and 1.9%, respectively.

In constant prices, or prices without the price effect, sales for the retail sales sector rose by 0.4% in the second quarter, in year-on-year terms

For their part, retail trade sales, not including service stations, posted a upturn in constant terms of 0.6% with respect to the second quarter of 2013.

In turn, the real decrease in retail food trade stood at 2.6%, while in retail trade of other products there was a rise of 3.1% with regards to the same quarter of 2013; for their part, retail automotive fuel sales were down by 1.9% at constant prices.

Within retail food trade the year-on-year trend in real terms for specialised food trade was negative, with a fall of 1.1%, and non-specialised retail trade in mainly food also posted a downturn of 3.8%. In trade of other products, there were rises in trade specialising in personal equipment (5.0%), in trade specialising in household equipment (4.6%), and in non-specialised trade in mainly other products, which rose by 3.4%, and there was a fall in retail trade specialising in other consumer goods, which was down by 2.0%.

Álava posted a downturn at constant prices and in year-on-year terms of 1.4%, but in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa there were rises of 0.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

With regards to the previous quarter, there was a rise of 0.8% in real retail trade sales in the Basque Country, once seasonal effects had been eliminated.

The number of people employed in the retail trade sector in the Basque Country overall in the second quarter of 2014 was up by 0.5% on the first quarter of 2014.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62 Further press releases on the Retail Trade Index of the Basque Country (ICIm) Retail Trade Index of the Basque Country (ICIm) databank