Press Release 10/06/2016
The turnover figure for the Trade and Repair Sector recovered in 2014, growing by 2.4%
The sector turned over more than 31 billion euros, and employed 128,000 people in over 42,000 establishments
The Trade and Repair Sector had a turnover of 31 billion 247 million euros in 2014, which was 2.4% more than the previous year according to Eustat data. The three activity branches recorded increases in turnover; around two percentage points in both wholesale and retail trade, and with an increase of slightly over 8 percentage points in the sale and repair of vehicles.
In 2014 the number of establishments in this sector stood at 42,222, employing 128,568 individuals - 13.7% of the total economy. Employment fell by 1.1% compared with the previous year.
The three activity branches that form part of this sector performed similarly in 2014, each growing in terms of turnover volume whilst undergoing decreases in personnel. The Wholesale Trade Division, the largest in terms of turnover, i.e. 52.0% of the total, was the division that registered a greater drop in employment (-2.5%), and it saw its turnover increase by 2.0%. The Sale and Repair of Vehicles, which accounted for 8.4% of total turnover, underwent a 1.1% drop in employed personnel, yet its turnover increased by 8.3%. Retail Trade posted a slight decrease in employment (-0.5%), and turnover volume increased by 1.8%, which accounted for 39.6% of total sales for the sector.
Retail Trade saw its trade margin on sales increase by 0.4 percentage points in 2014 to 29.5%, and the trade margin on the Sale and Repair of Vehicles underwent the biggest increase at half a percentage point, ultimately reaching 16.9%. The only branch to see its trade margin decrease was Wholesale Trade, the margin for which fell by 0.6 percentage points to 20.6% compared with 2013.
In more disaggregated terms, the activity group that stood out within the Sale and Repair of Vehicles division was the Sale of Motor Vehicles, which accounted for 56.7% of this division's turnover. This group saw its turnover rise by 7.6%, and its employment fall by 3.9%.
In the Wholesale Trade division, the groups that contributed most to the total turnover were Other Specialised Wholesale Trade(1) (39.9%) and Food Products, Drinks and Tobacco (21.8%), which saw turnover increases of 5.8% and 1.4% respectively. Additionally, these were the groups that employed the most personnel in their division. Compared with the previous year, other Specialised Wholesale Trade lost 0.7% of its jobs, with Wholesale Trade of Food Products, Drinks and Tobacco losing 1.8% of its jobs.
Within Retail Trade, the group that made the most significant contribution to turnover (32.1%) and employment (28.8%) was Retail Trade in Non-Specialised Establishments(2). This group saw its turnover figure increase by 0.6%, whereas employment in the group fell by 0.4%. The next biggest contributing group in this division was Retail Trade of Other Items in Specialised Establishments(3), which accounted for 24.2% of total turnover and 28.6% of total employment. This group posted a year-on-year downwards trend, with its turnover decreasing by 0.4%, and employment by 0.5%.
By province, all three province posted an increase in turnover for the sector as a whole in 2014, though they posted a decrease in employment. In turnover, Álava, with 15.9% of sales in the Basque Country, saw its employment fall by 2.5% and its turnover rise by 0.3% in 2014. In Bizkaia, employment fell by 1.2%, and turnover rose by 1.7%, accounting for 52.0% of total sales. The Trade and Repairs Sector in Gipuzkoa had a turnover of 4.8% more than in 2013, with sales representing 32.1% of the total, and employment was down by 0.4%.
An analysis by establishment size of the Trade and Repairs Sector shows us that the business structure of the previous year remained the same. Microenterprises (fewer than 10 employees) comprised 95.6% of establishments and generated 50.7% of total turnover with 62.1% of the employed personnel. Small companies (10 to 49 employees) represented 4.1% of establishments with 25.7% of employment, and 36.1% of the turnover. Finally, companies with 50 or more employees (medium and large companies) generated 13.2% of total turnover, provided employment to 12.2% of people in work and represented 0.3% of all establishments.
Footnotes:
1) This 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