Retail sales decline
Retail sales fell by 0.9 percent year-on-year in nominal terms in February 2016. Adjusted for seasonal effects, the decline compared with the previous month was minus 0.4 percent. This is shown by the provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Real retail sales adjusted for sales and holiday effects fell by 0.2 percent year-on-year in February 2016. The real development takes inflation into account. Compared with the previous month, real retail sales declined by 0.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Adjusted for sales and holiday effects, retail trade excluding service stations recorded a 0.2 percent decline in nominal sales in February 2016 compared with February 2015 (+0.3% in real terms). The retail trade of food, beverages and tobacco recorded an increase in nominal sales of 0.5 percent (+0.7% in real terms), while the non-food sector registered a nominal decline of 1.1 percent (+0.9% in real terms).
Adjusted for seasonal effects, retail trade excluding fuel recorded a nominal decline in sales of 0.4 percent in February compared with the previous month (-0.4% in real terms). Retail trade with food, beverages and tobacco recorded a nominal decline in sales of 0.5 percent (-0.8% in real terms). The non-food sector registered a nominal decline of 0.6 percent (0.0% in real terms). (ah)
