Press Release 09/06/2015
The turnover figure for the trade and repairs sector fell by 1.3% in 2013
The sector employed more than 130,000 people and microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees) comprised 95.5% of establishments
The trade and repairs sector had a turnover of 30 billion 503 million euros in 2013, which was 1.3% less than in 2012, according to data prepared by EUSTAT. Overall, there was a net loss of 316 establishments, or 0.7%, leaving 42,505. Employment was also reduced by 1,775 people, representing a fall of 1.3%. Nevertheless the sector employed 130,057 people in 2013, 13.4% of the total economy.
The three activity branches that comprise this sector showed different trends in 2013. The wholesale trade division, the largest in terms of turnover, 52.2% of the total, registered the worst results, with a drop of 2.3% in turnover and of 3% in employment. The Sale and Repair of vehicles, which represents 8% of total turnover, also developed negatively, with a slightly greater fall in turnover (-1.2%) than the sector as a whole, but with a better result in employment (-2.6). Retail trade, on the other hand, posted a slight increase in sales (0.1%), although the result of the financial year saw a significant downturn. The number of people employed in retail trade also fell (-0.2%), but to lesser extent than in the rest of the sector.
All of the sector saw trade margins fall in 2013, but again there were differences between divisions. Overall the trade margin on sales was down by less than half a point on the previous year, standing at 24.2%. The branch where the trade margin fell most drastically was in sales and repair, which dropped by 1.5 points compared to 2012, standing at 16.4%; the margin in wholesale trade was only down by 0.2%, reaching 21.2%; whilst in retail trade it stood at 29.1%, despite having lost more than half a percentage point with respect to 2012.
At a more disaggregated level, in the sales and repair of motor vehicles division, there was a notable increase of 1.6% in the turnover of maintenance and repair of vehicles, although its employment fell by 1.9%. The activity group sales of motor vehicles, which accounts for 57% of this division's turnover figure, lost 1.6% of its turnover and 4.4% of employment.
In the wholesale trade sector all groups posted negative year-on-year performances both in turnover and in employment, except for the wholesale of ICT equipment where turnover was up by 31%. The groups with the most weight both in employment and in turnover were other specialised wholesale trade(1) and food, beverages and tobacco. The turnover of the former decreased by 3.5%, and the latter by 2.2%. Regarding employment, other specialised wholesale trade lost 4.9% of its jobs and 0.9% in the case of wholesale of food, beverages and tobacco.
In the Retail Trade division the fall in employment was the lowest, 0.2%, and five of its groups even saw an upturn in the number of people employed. That was the case in the activity group Retail Trade in non-specialised establishments(2), the largest both in employment and in turnover. Its employment grew by 1.3% and there was also growth in its turnover, although to a lesser degree, 0.4%. However, Retail Trade in specialised establishments(3), with slightly less weight than the former, posted a negative year-on-year performance, with its turnover dropping by 2.6% and its employment by 2.4%.
By province, the three provinces posted a negative performance, both in turnover and in employment for the sector as a whole in 2013. In turnover, Álava, with 16.2% of sales in the Basque Country, saw its sales fall by 1.7% and its employment by 1.5% in 2013. Bizkaia accounted for 52.4% of total sales, and employment fell by 1.6%, turnover by 1.2%. The trade and repairs sector in Gipuzkoa had a turnover of 1.2% less than in 2012, with sales representing 31.4% of the total, and employment was down by 0.9%.
An analysis according to the size of establishments in the trade and repairs sector revealed that microenterprises (with fewer than 10 people employed) comprised 95.5% of establishments and generated 51.1% of total turnover with 61.8% of the employed personnel. Small companies (with 10 to 49 people employed) represented 4.2% of establishments with 25.9% of employment, and 35.7% of the turnover. Finally, companies with 50 or more employees (medium and large companies) invoiced 13.2% of total turnover, provided employment to 12.3% of people in work and represented 0.3% of all establishments.
Footnotes:
(1) Includes the wholesale of fuel, metals, construction materials, ironmongery, plumbing, chemical products, other semi-finished products, scrap and others.
(2) Includes large stores and warehouses, amongst others.
(3) Includes retail trade in clothes, footwear, pharmaceutical, medical, orthopaedic, cosmetic and hygiene products, watches and jewellery items and others.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62
Further press releases on the survey on trade and repairs of the Basque Country
Databank on survey on trade and repairs of the Basque Country