August retail sales down 4.2% YoY

©Leung Cho Pan via 123RF

The main negative contributors to the 4,2% decrease were: all ‘other’ retailers (-4,2%); retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (-1,7%); general dealers (-0,6%); and retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-0,4%).

Negative annual growth rates were recorded for: all ‘other’ retailers (-32,3%); retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (-10,2%); retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (-5,0%); and general dealers (-1,5%).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 4,0% in August 2020 compared with July 2020. This followed month-on-month changes of 0,6% in July 2020 and 5,1% in June 2020. In the three months ending August 2020, seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 16,7% compared with the previous three months.

Retail trade sales decreased by 6,7% in the three months ending August 2020 compared with the three months ending August 2019. The largest negative contributor to this decrease was all ‘other’ retailers (-38,8% and contributing -5,0 percentage points).