Press release 23/12/2020

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

The sales index of large stores and food chains in the Basque Country fell by 1.3% in November 2020

Compared to October 2020 sales were down 3.9%

Sales at large stores and food chains in the Basque Country in November 2020 experienced a year-on-year decrease at constant prices of 1.3% in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. Compared to the previous month, October 2020, sales were down 3.9% in deseasonalised terms.

Sales of food products at large stores and food chains posted a year-on-year rise of 5.9%, whereas sales corresponding to other items experienced a drop of 14.3%, with respect to the same month of the previous year, once corrected for calendar effects.

In relation to October 2020, and in deseasonalised terms, sales of food products at constant prices rose by 0.4%, and those corresponding to other products were down 12.8%.

By province, sales in year-on-year terms in November 2020, once corrected for calendar effects, increased by 2.4% in Álava and decreased in the other two provinces: by 1.0% in Bizkaia and 3.4% in Gipuzkoa.

In the accumulated total for January to November 2020, the sales index in large stores and food chains registered 1.5% growth. Accumulated sales of food products increased by 7.8% compared to the same 11-month period of 2019, while accumulated sales of other products were 10.8% lower than in the same period of the previous year.

Sales increased in all provinces in the year-to-date: Álava by 2.9%, Gipuzkoa by 1.4%, and Bizkaia by 1.2%, all at constant prices and in homogeneous terms of the working calendar.

The number of people employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country in November 2020 fell by 2.2% compared to the same month of the previous year and was down 1.7% on the previous month, in deseasonalised terms.

In the accumulated total for the first eleven months of 2020 the number of people employed was up 0.4% on the same period of 2019.

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 current circumstances. As a result, the November index was calculated with 90.24% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during December.

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