IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Measured in real terms (constant 2015 prices), retail trade sales increased by 2,3% year-on-year in February 2021. The largest positive annual growth rates were recorded for retailers in:

·         household furniture, appliances and equipment (17,3%); and

·         textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (12,3%).

The main positive contributors to this increase were:

·        retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (contributing 2,0 percentage points); and

·        general dealers (contributing 1,7 percentage points).

Seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 6,9% in February 2021 compared with January 2021. This followed month-on-month changes of -2,4% in January 2021 and -0,1% in December 2020. In the three months ended February 2021, seasonally adjusted retail trade sales increased by 1,7% compared with the previous three months.

Retail trade sales decreased by 0,9% in the three months ended February 2021 compared with the three months ended February 2020. The main negative contributor to this decrease was all ‘other’ retailers (-18,0% and contributing -2,2 percentage points).