Press Release 27/05/2021

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

Sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country increased by 10.4% in April 2021

In the first four months of 2021, sales increased by 3.4%

Sales at large stores and food chains in the Basque Country in April 2021 experienced a year-on-year increase at constant prices of 10.4%, according to Eustat data. However, compared to the previous month, March 2021, sales were down 2.8%.

In relation to April 2020, sales of food products in large stores and food chains saw a 10.2% downturn in April 2021. Conversely, in the case of other items, there was a very high year-on-year increase of 160.6%.

To understand these varying trends and their magnitude, it must be borne in mind that after the state of emergency decreed on 14 March to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the restrictions had different effects on sales of food products and sales of other products.

By province, Álava topped the year-on-year rise in sales, with an increase of 14.2%, followed by Bizkaia with 13.8% and Gipuzkoa with a more moderate rise of 3.6%.

In April 2021, sales at large stores and food chains, both of food products and other products, fell by 2.0% and 4.5%, respectively, compared to March 2021. The month-on-month downturn in sales was observed in all three provinces. There were decreases of 3.5% in Gipuzkoa, 2.7% in Bizkaia and, lastly, 1.9% in Álava.

In January, February, March and April 2021 as a whole, the sales index in large stores and food chains followed an upward trend, with a 3.4% increase compared to the same accumulated period of the previous year. This trend was due to the variation in sales of other products, which were up 20.6% compared to the same accumulated period of 2020, given that in the case of food, overall sales fell by 2.5% in the run-up to April.

By province, the overall variation in the year so far was positive in the case of Álava (6.5%) and in Bizkaia (5.1%), while in Gipuzkoa it was negative, at -0.7%.

Lastly, the number of people employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country rose by 2.3% in April 2021 compared to the same month of the previous year. It was also down 1.5% on March 2021. In the accumulated total for the first four months of 2021, sales saw an increase of 0.4%.

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 April index was calculated with a 95% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during May.

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