Press release 27/04/2020

LARGE STORES AND FOOD CHAINS TRADE INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY. MARCH 2020

Sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country rose by 1.7% in March 2020

Sales of food products were up by 18.5%, while sales of other products fell by 35.2%

Sales at large stores and food chains in the Basque Country in March 2020 experienced a year-on-year upturn at constant prices of 1.7% in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. Compared to February 2020, sales were down 1.8% in deseasonalised terms.

The exceptional measures of confinement and partial or total closure adopted to confront the COVID-19 global pandemic in the second two weeks of March 2020, have caused a highly disparate result in food sales (essential and critical activity) and in sales of other articles (extremely restricted activity). Thus, while sales of food products at large stores and food chains reflected a year-on-year rise of 18.5%, sales corresponding to other items experienced a downturn of 35.2%, with respect to the same month of the previous year, once corrected for calendar effects.

By province, there was an increase in all three: 2.5% in Álava, 0.3% in Bizkaia and 3.6% in Gipuzkoa compared to the same month of the previous year, all at constant prices and corrected for calendar effects.

Compared to the previous month, February 2020, food sales at constant prices and in deseasonalised terms, increased by 14.8% and sales of other products were down 34.8%.

In the accumulated total for January to March 2020, the Sales index in large stores and food chains registered 1.4% growth, due to the 7.7% increase in food sales, given that sales of other products fell by 11.0%. However, there was a positive trend in the three provinces: Álava increased in the year-to-date by 1.1%, Bizkaia by 0.3%, and Gipuzkoa by 3.3%, all at constant prices and in homogeneous terms of the working calendar.

The number of individuals employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country fell by 0.5% compared to the same month of the previous year and was down 2.3% on the previous month, in deseasonalised terms. In the accumulated total for these three months of 2020 the number of people employed was up 1.0% on the same period of 2019.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62