Press release 08/05/2020

RETAIL TRADE INDEX (ICIm). I/2020

Sales in the retail trade sector of the Basque Country were down 3.3% in the first quarter of 2020

Food sales were up 4.0% and sales of other products fell by 9.5%

In the first quarter of 2020 sales in the retail trade sector of the Basque Country were down 3.3% compared to the same quarter of the previous year, once corrected for the corresponding calendar effects and at constant prices, according to Eustat data. Sales in the sector, not including service stations, were also down 3.2% in year-on-year terms.

Compared to the previous quarter, and once any seasonal effects had been eliminated, the sales index in the first quarter of 2020 fell by 3.9%.

By sectors, food sales were up by 4.0%, while retail trade sales of other products shrank by 9.5% and sales of automotive fuel decreased by 5.5%, all with regards to the same period in 2019 and once the price and calendar effects had been discounted.

In the retail food sector, specialised trade in food, beverages and tobacco fell by 2.9% (establishments such as greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers, etc.), while non-specialised retail trade with food, beverages or tobacco predominating increased by 7.2% (basically supermarkets and hypermarkets).

In retail trade of other products, there was generalised fall in sales in relation to the same quarter of 2019, at constant prices and once corrected for calendar effects. Thus, specialised trade in personal goods (clothes, footwear and pharmaceutical products, for example) was down 8.7%, a similar figure to that observed in specialised trade in household goods (-8.6%), which includes, among others, domestic appliances, furniture and telecommunications equipment. Specialised retail trade in other consumer goods (computers, sports items and books, for example), shrank by 15.0% and non-specialised trade with other products predominating (other retail trade in non-specialised establishments and by mail or online) fell by 9.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

By provinces, in Álava the sales index registered a slight year-on-year decrease with a drop in sales of 0.1%, while in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa there were more pronounced decreases of 4.7% and 2.7%, respectively.

The number of people employed in the retail trade sector in the Basque Country overall in the first quarter of 2020 was down 0.7% on the first quarter of the previous year. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, there was a drop of 0.5%.

NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS ON THE RETAIL TRADE INDEX

Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, declared a state of alarm in order to manage the health crisis caused by COVID-19.

The exceptional measures adopted brought the majority of service sector companies to a partial or total standstill during the last two weeks of March. Therefore, the Retail Trade Index for this first quarter was affected by this exceptional situation in a sixth of the period to which it refers.

Due to this situation, obtaining the necessary information for compiling the Retail Trade Index required a greater degree of effort, by both the companies surveyed and the personnel dedicated to collecting and processing the information.

Eustat would like to thank all the companies that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the index for the first quarter of 2020 was calculated with 73.56% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during April.

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