Press Release 07/05/2015
Nominal sales in the retail trade sector of the Basque Country dropped by 0.9% in the first quarter of 2015
Nevertheless, once the price effects were eliminated, sales increased by 1.1% at constant prices
The retail trade sector of the Basque Country registered a 0.9% drop in nominal sales in the first quarter of 2015 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 0.7% in year-on-year terms.
With respect to the previous quarter, the sales index was down a nominal 1.2%, once any seasonal effects had been eliminated.
By sector, food products registered a drop of 2.0% in nominal sales in the first quarter of 2015, retail trade of other products saw a rise of 2.7% and sales of automotive fuel dropped by 13.7%, all with regards to the same period in 2014.
In the retail food sector, specialised trade was down by 5.0%, as non-specialised trade in mainly food products fell by 0.4%. There were increases in all sectors of retail trade for other products. Non-specialised trade of mainly other products rose by 6.1%, trade specialising in household equipment grew by 4.1%, trade specialising in personal equipment was up by 1.6%, and trade specialising in other consumer goods rose by 0.6%.
By province, Bizkaia saw a nominal decrease of 1.4%, in Álava the fall was 0.7% and in Gipuzkoa 0.1%, with respect to the same quarter of the previous year.
At constant prices, retail trade prices rose by 1.1% in the first quarter of 2015, the fourth consecutive quarter with positive rates
For their part, retail trade sales, not including service stations, posted a real upturn at constant prices of 1.2% with respect to the same quarter of the previous year.
Compared to the fourth quarter of 2014, in the first quarter of 2015 there was no significant change in real retail trade sales in the Basque Country (0.0%), once seasonal effects had been eliminated.
There was a real decrease in retail food trade of 1.9%, whereas in retail trade of other products there was a real increase of 3.5% with regards to the same quarter of 2014, and retail automotive fuel sales were down by 1.0%.
Within retail food trade, the year-on-year performance of specialised food trade was negative, with a fall of 5.2%, with non-specialised retail trade in food posting a downturn of 0.1%. There were increases in all sectors of retail trade for other products. Non-specialised trade of mainly other products grew by 7.1%, trade specialising in household equipment grew by 4.8%, trade specialising in personal equipment was up by 2.3%, and trade specialising in other consumer goods rose by 1.5%.
The three Provinces registered increases in their sales in real terms: Álava rose by 2.8%, Gipuzkoa was up by 1.9% and Bizkaia increased by 0.1%, with respect to the same quarter of the previous year.
The number of people employed in the retail trade sector in the Basque Country overall in the first quarter of 2015 was down by 0.1% on the fourth quarter of 2014, but rose by 0.7% with respect to the previous year.
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 (ICIm) of the Basque Country
Retail trade index (ICIm) of the Basque Country databank