Press Release 26/03/2021

LARGE STORES AND FOOD CHAINS TRADE INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY. FEBRUARY 2021

Sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country fell by 6% in February 2021

Compared to January 2021 sales were down 1.7%

Sales at large stores and food chains in the Basque Country in February 2021 experienced a year-on-year downturn at constant prices of 6% in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. Compared to January 2021, sales were down 1.7% in deseasonalised terms.

Sales of food products at large stores and food chains reflected a drop of 0.3% compared to the same month of the previous year. In the case of other items, on the other hand, there was a sharper decline of 18.2% compared to February 2020.

By province, Álava saw a 1.2% increase in sales in year-on-year terms, whereas in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa sales were lower than those observed in February 2020, at 5.5% and 9.9%, respectively.

Compared to the previous month, January 2021, food sales at constant prices decreased by 2.5%, while sales of other products were up 0.4%. In Álava, a month-on-month increase of 2.4% was observed; in Bizkaia, sales decreased by 0.4% compared to the previous month and, in Gipuzkoa, there was a steeper decline of 5.6%.

In January and February 2021 as a whole, the sales index in large stores and food chains fell by 2.7% due to the overall decrease of 14.8% in sales of other products, given that food sales were up 3.8% on those observed in the same accumulated period of the previous year.

By province, the overall variation in the year so far was positive in the case of Álava, at 1.6%, whereas in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa it was negative, at 2.9% and 4.4%, respectively.

Lastly, the number of people employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country fell by 1.2% compared to the same month of the previous year. It was also down 0.2% on the previous month. The total for the first two months of 2021 decreased by 0.7% compared to the same period of the previous year.

NOTE:

Year-on-year variations are calculated using the series corrected for calendar effects and the month-on-month variations are calculated using the deseasonalised series.

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) 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 preparing the Large Stores and Food Chains Trade Index. As a result, the February index was calculated with 92.5% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during March.

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