Press Release 26/04/2023
LARGE STORES AND FOOD CHAINS TRADE INDEX. MARCH 2023
Large store and food chain sales in the Basque Country were down 2.6% in March 2023
The Food index registered a fall of 5.3%, while that of Other Products rose by 3.5%
Large store and food chain sales in the Basque Country registered a downturn of 2.6% in March 2023 in relation to the same month of the previous year, at constant prices and in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data.
Compared to the previous month (February 2023) and once corrected for seasonal effects, sales at constant prices were down 1.9% in March.
Sales decreased in month-on-month terms, in both the Food and Other products sectors, by 2.8% and 0.1% respectively.
In year-on-year terms (March 2023 compared to March 2022), the evolutions of sales at constant prices were also negative in the Food sector, with a decrease of 5.3%. However, in Other Products the results were positive, with a growth in sales of 3.5% in relation to March of the previous year.
Large Stores and Food Chains Trade Index of the Basque Country by province and month. Inter-annual and inter-mensual variation rates (p). March 2023
| | Constant prices |
| | m / m-12 | m / m-1 | A (m) /A (m-12) |
| SALES INDEX by historic territory | | | |
| Basque Country | -2,6 | -1,9 | -0,3 |
| Araba/Álava | -5,7 | -0,9 | -4,2 |
| Bizkaia | -1,3 | -1,6 | 1,1 |
| Gipuzkoa | -3,4 | -2,7 | -1,2 |
| | | | |
| SALES INDEX by sector | | | |
| Foodstuffs | -5,3 | -2,8 | -2,4 |
| Rest of products | 3,5 | -0,1 | 3,8 |
| | | | |
| PERSONNEL INDEX | | | |
| Basque Country | 5,8 | 1,0 | 4,5 |
(p)Provisional data
m / m-12 Year-on-year variation. Data corrected for calendar effects
m / m-1 Month-on-month variation. Deseasonalised data
A(m)/A(m-12) Interannual variation rate of the accumulated period from January to the current month over the same accumulated period of the previous year
Date April 26, 2023
Source: Eustat. Large Stores and Food Chains Trade Index- (ISGC)
In March 2023, sales in large stores and food chains experienced a drop in year-on-year terms in all three provinces, at constant prices and in homogeneous terms of the working calendar. Sales fell by 5.7% in Álava, 3.4% in Gipuzkoa and, lastly, by 1.3% in Bizkaia.
A decrease in sales compared to the previous quarter (February 2023) was observed in all three provinces. In month-on-month terms, sales were down 2.7% in Gipuzkoa, 1.6% in Bizkaia and in 0.9% in Álava.
The number of people employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country increased by 5.8% in relation to March 2022. Compared to the previous month, the index of employed people rose 1.0%.
BALANCE OF THE FIRST QUARTER OF 2023: the cumulative total of the General Index was down 0.3%, sales in Food fell by 2.4% and sales in Other Products grew by 3.8%
In the first quarter of 2023, the decrease in the Sales index for large stores and food chains was 0.3% compared to the first quarter of the year. This decrease was a result of the 2.4% drop in cumulative sales in Food, given that cumulative sales in Other Products rose by 3.8% up to the month of March.
The cumulative variation for the year to date was negative in Álava and Gipuzkoa, with cumulative decreases of 4.2% and 1.2%, respectively. In Bizkaia, however, there was an increase in cumulative sales of 1.1%.
The index of people employed in the sector showed a cumulative rise of 4.5% in the first three months of the 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.
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 index for this month was calculated with 97.37% coverage.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62