Press release 13/11/2020

SERVICE SECTOR INDEX. TRADE. III/2020

Sales in the Trade sector of the Basque Country recovered by 22.7% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter

Trade fell by 0.3% in respect of the third quarter of the previous year and was down 8.3% in the accumulated total of the first three quarters of 2020

The Trade sector, which comprises Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade, and Sale & Repair of Vehicles, was up 22.7% in constant prices, in the first quarter of 2020, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. This growth has exceeded the decrease registered in the second quarter of 2020 of 13.9% in respect of the previous quarter.

In relation to the same quarter of the previous year and once corrected for calendar effects, sales in the third quarter of 2020 recorded a 0.3% drop in real terms. If we observe the more long-term trend, in the accumulated total of the first three quarters of 2020, trade sales fell by 8.3%.

Within Trade, the year-on-year performance of real sales, once corrected for calendar effects, was positive in the branches of Sale & Repair of Motor Vehicles (10.6%) and Retail Trade (2.1%), whereas Wholesale Trade was down 4.3%.

In relation to the previous quarter and once corrected for calendar and seasonal effects, sales recovered by 60.8% in the Sale & Repair of Motor Vehicles; by 19.8% in Retail Trade; and by 17.4% in Wholesale Trade.

In the year so far, the branch with the greatest accumulated decrease in sales is the Sale & Repair of Motor Vehicles (-14.3%), followed by Wholesale Trade (-9.1%) and, finally, by Retail Trade (-5.7%).

By province, in Álava sales increased by 2.7% and in Gipuzkoa sales were up 0.5% in year-on-year terms, once calendar effects had been discounted. In Bizkaia, on the other hand, sales were down 1.9% in relation to the third quarter of 2019.

Compared to the second quarter of 2020 and in deseasonalised terms, Álava showed a recovery of 25.4%, Bizkaia of 23.0% and Gipuzkoa of 20.9%. In the year-to-date, the greatest decrease is estimated in Bizkaia (-9.2%), followed by Álava (-7.6%) and Gipuzkoa (-7.1%).

The index of people employed in the Trade sector in the Basque Country fell by 1.9% in the year-on-year period between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020, which represented a decrease of 0.2%, in deseasonalised terms, in respect of the second quarter of 2020.

NOTE:

Included as persons employed considered in this and other short-term indices, are those covered by an ERTE (Temporary Labour Force Adjustment Plan), following the definition of persons employed indicated by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in its manual Methodology of Short Term Business Statistics.

The models used in the correction of calendar effects and deseasonalisation of the series include the effect of COVID-19 on the variables studied, following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) (Eurostat) in its methodological note Guidance on Time Series Treatment in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Eustat would like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the index for the third quarter was calculated with 93.03% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during October.

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