Press release 28/01/2026
LARGE STORES AND FOOD CHAINS TRADE INDEX. DECEMBER 2025
Sales and employment in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country. December 2025
Highlights
2025
Year-on-year evolution: Sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country rose by 0.9% compared to 2024.
Sectors: In Food, the year-on-year variation was 0.7%, and in Other Products it stood at 1.4%.
Provinces: There was no variation in Álava, while in Bizkaia the year-on-year variation was 1.5% and in Gipuzkoa 0.3%.
Employment: the number of people employed increased by 1.1%.
December 2025
Year-on-year evolution: Sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country were up 2.6%.
Monthly evolution: The month-on-month variation rate stood at -0.4%.
Sectors: In Food, the year-on-year variation was 2.7%, and in Other Products it stood at 2.6%.
Provinces: In Álava, the year-on-year variation was 0.9%, in Bizkaia it was 3.3%, and in Gipuzkoa it was 2.2%.
Employment: the number of people employed fell by 1.0% compared to December 2024.
Statistical analysis
In 2025 as a whole, sales in large stores and food chains registered cumulative growth of 0.9%. In the case of the Food sector, sales increased by 0.7%, and in the Other Products sector they were up 1.4%.
The cumulative variation over the course of the year was positive in Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, with sales rising by 1.5% and 0.3%, respectively. In Álava, however, sales remained at the same level as the previous year.
The index of employed people showed a cumulative rise of 1.1% in 2025.
In December 2025, sales in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country were up 2.6% on the same month of the previous year, at constant prices and once corrected for calendar effects, according to Eustat data.
Compared to the previous month (November 2025), sales at constant prices, once corrected for seasonal effects, fell by 0.4%.
The year-on-year evolution of sales compared to December 2024 was positive in both the Food sector and the Other Products sector, with increases of 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively.
In month-on-month terms (December 2025 compared to November 2025), there was a positive trend in the Food sector, with growth of 0.2%. In contrast, sales in the Other products sector were down 1.4%.
Large Stores and Food Chains Trade Index of the Basque Country by province and month. Inter-annual and inter-mensual variation rates (p). December 2025
| |
Constant prices |
| |
m / m-12 |
m / m-1 |
A (m) /A (m-12) |
| SALES INDEX by historic territory |
|
|
|
| Basque Country |
2.6 |
-0.4 |
0.9 |
| Araba/Álava |
0.9 |
0.1 |
0.0 |
| Bizkaia |
3.3 |
-0.6 |
1.5 |
| Gipuzkoa |
2.2 |
0.0 |
0.3 |
| |
| SALES INDEX by sector |
|
|
|
| Foodstuffs |
2.7 |
0.2 |
0.7 |
| Rest of products |
2.6 |
-1.4 |
1.4 |
| |
| Employment index |
|
|
|
| Basque Country |
-1.0 |
-0.5 |
1.1 |
(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 January 28, 2026
Source: Eustat. Large Stores and Food Chains Trade Index
In December 2025, sales in large stores and food chains increased in year-on-year terms by 3.3% in Bizkaia, 2.2% in Gipuzkoa and 0.9% in Álava.
In month-on-month terms, sales rose by 0.1% in Álava, remained unchanged in Gipuzkoa, and fell by 0.6% in Bizkaia.
Lastly, the number of people employed in large stores and food chains in the Basque Country decreased by 1.0% in comparison with December 2024. In month-on-month terms, the index of employed people registered a fall of 0.5%.
NOTE
Year-on-year variations are calculated using the series corrected for calendar effects, and month-on-month variations are calculated using the deseasonalised series.
Eustat would like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated with gathering information. Thanks to their efforts, the index for this month was calculated with 100.00% coverage.