Large stores and electronic commerce reduced their turnover by 5.6% and 2.8% in the first month of the year
Retail trade registered an increase in sales of 2.1% in January compared to the same month in 2023, expanding by one point the year-on-year advance that it experienced in December, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
With the rebound in January, retail trade turnover has had 14 consecutive months of year-on-year increases.
Statistics publishes this statistic for the first time today based on 2021. In this new base, sales do not include indirect taxes, as the previous bases did.
Within the retail sector, sales of food products rose 0.8% year-on-year, while sales of other products increased 3.6% compared to January 2023, with increases of 1.6% , 5% and 4.4% in sales of personal equipment, home equipment and health, respectively.
For its part, sales at service stations increased 7.9% year-on-year at the start of the year.
By distribution modes, the greatest year-on-year increase in sales was recorded by single-location companies (3.6%), followed by large chains (3.5%) and small chains (2.9%). On the other hand, sales fell by 5.6% in large stores and 2.8% in electronic commerce.
Eliminating seasonal and calendar effects, retail trade turnover increased by 0.3% in the first month of the year compared to the same month last year, a rate 2.4 points lower than that of December.
SALES FALL 0.5% IN THE MONTH
In monthly rate (January 2024 over December 2023) and eliminating the seasonal and calendar effect, retail sales fell by 0.5%, moderating by six tenths the monthly decline experienced in December (-1.1%) .
Within the corrected series, all distribution modes presented negative monthly rates in January, except for single-location companies, which increased their sales by 0.2%. The biggest decline was seen in large stores, with a drop in turnover of 1.9% compared to December.
In January, sales of food products decreased by 1.1% compared to the previous month, while those of other products decreased by 1.2%. For its part, sales at service stations rose 0.2%.
EMPLOYMENT SLOWES ITS GROWTH RATE TO 1.9%
Regarding employment, retail trade increased its employment by 1.9% in January compared to the same month in 2023, a rate three tenths lower than that of December. However, with the advance in January, employment in retail trade has had 33 months of consecutive year-on-year increases.
The largest year-on-year increases in employment are observed in large chains (2.9%), followed by single-location companies and small chains (1.8% in both cases) and large stores (0.2%).
In monthly terms, employment in the sector fell 1.4%, highlighting the decrease in employment in large stores (-6.9%).
ALL COMMUNITIES INCREASE THEIR SALES AND TWO DESTROY JOBS
Retail sales rose at an annual rate in all autonomous communities during the first month of this year.
The largest increases were recorded in the Canary Islands (4.1%), Castilla-La Mancha (3.5%) and Navarra (3.3%), while the most moderate increases occurred in La Rioja (0.1%). and Murcia (0.6%).
For its part, retail employment increased in 15 communities at an annual rate, especially in Madrid (5.3%) and the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, both with an increase of 3%.
The only decreases in occupancy occurred in La Rioja (-1.7%) and Extremadura (-1%). Employment also decreased in the autonomous cities of Ceuta (-0.8%) and Melilla (-0.9%).
