IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

Measured in real terms (constant 2015 prices), retail trade sales decreased by 4,2% year-on-year in August 2020. 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%).

The negative contributors to the 4,2% decrease were:

·          all ‘other’ retailers (contributing -4,2 percentage points);

·          retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (contributing -1,7 percentage points);

·          general dealers (contributing -0,6 of a percentage point); and

·          retailers in food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores (contributing -0,4 of a percentage point).

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).