Press Release 06/05/2014
Sales in the retail trade sector of the Basque Country dropped by 1.1% in the first quarter of 2014
With regards to the previous quarter, the sales index registered a nominal fall of 0.7%
The retail trade sector of the Basque Country registered a 1.1% drop in nominal sales in the first 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 down by 0.5% in year-on-year terms.
With regards to the previous quarter, the sales index registered a nominal fall of 0.7%, once any seasonal effects had been eliminated.
By sector, food products registered a drop of 3.4% in nominal sales in the first quarter of 2014, retail trade of other products saw a rise of 1.8% and sales of automotive fuel dropped by 5.0%, all with regards to the same period in 2013.
In the retail food sector, specialised trade was down by 2.4%, as non-specialised trade in mainly food products fell by 3.9%. In retail trade of other products there were rises in trade specialising in personal equipment (6.1%) and trade specialising in household equipment (1.7%), and decreases in specialised trade of other consumer goods, which fell by 2.3%, and in non-specialised trade of mainly other products, which fell by 1.7%.
By Province, the largest decrease in the first quarter of 2014 in nominal sales in the retail sector occurred in Bizkaia, with a year-on-year fall of 1.6%. Gipuzkoa and Álava registered a 0.6% drop in nominal sales in both cases.
In constant prices, or prices without the price effect, sales for the retail sales sector fell by 2.0% in the first quarter, in year-on-year terms
For their part, retail trade sales, not including service stations, posted a downturn in constant terms of 1.8% with respect to the first quarter of 2013.
In turn, the real decrease in retail food trade stood at 4.2%, while in retail trade of other products there was a rise of 0.1% with regards to the same quarter of 2013; for their part, retail automotive fuel sales were down by 3.7% 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 3.3%, and non-specialised retail trade in mainly food also posted a downturn of 4.3%. In trade of other products there were rises in trade specialising in personal equipment (1.1%) and trade specialising in household equipment (2.7%), and decreases in specialised trade of other consumer goods, which fell by 2.8%, and in non-specialised trade of mainly other products, which fell by 2.5%.
The three Provinces registered decreases in sales in real terms: Bizkaia fell by 2.5%, Álava by 2.0% and Gipuzkoa by 1.1%.
With regards to the previous quarter, there was a fall of 0.9% 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 first quarter of 2014 was down by 1.5% on the fourth quarter of 2013.
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