Monthly survey on retail trade 2020May
Published on 18 June 2020
Turnover in retail trade regained ground in May
Warnings
In order to capture the effect on retail turnover of the lockdown and the subsequent lifting of the restrictions, this publication focuses primarily on the year-on-year changes in sales for the months of April and May.
The data presented here cover sales over the entire month under consideration. As sales probably increased after the lockdown began to be eased on 11 May, the figures for the end of the month should be better than suggested by the evolutions described below.
The trend in retail turnover does not reflect the trend in total household consumption: the latter includes less crisis-dependent items such as health care, education and rents.
In order to capture the effect on retail turnover of the lockdown and the subsequent lifting of the restrictions, this publication focuses primarily on the year-on-year changes in sales for the months of April and May.
The data presented here cover sales over the entire month under consideration. As sales probably increased after the lockdown began to be eased on 11 May, the figures for the end of the month should be better than suggested by the evolutions described below.
The trend in retail turnover does not reflect the trend in total household consumption: the latter includes less crisis-dependent items such as health care, education and rents.
In May, with the start of the lifting of the lockdown, turnover in retail trade rebounded compared with the previous month, showing a decline of 9% year-on-year (adjusted for seasonal and working-day variations, in volumes), after a drop of 40% in April. Sales of manufactured goods remained below pre-crisis levels (down 16 % year-on-year, after -68 % in April). The sectors where sales were most depressed included perfumes and hygiene products (down 49% year-on-year), optical equipment (down 44%) and jewellery (down 42%). In contrast, DIY products jumped by 27% and bicycles and motorcycles by 8%, making up some of the losses observed in previous months. Food sales posted a 2.5% year-on-year increase. In terms of distribution channels, small retailers benefited from the easing of the lockdown and reported a smaller year-on-year drop in sales than in April (fall of 16% after 55% previously), while large general retailers continued to report dynamic turnover (growth of 7%). Sales at supermarkets increased at a similar pace to April (rise of 10%), while sales at hypermarkets remained stable (growth of 0.5%) and sales at department stores fell less sharply than in April (down 47% after a drop of 69%). Data for end-April pointed to a significant rise in distance selling (growth of 44%).
Total industrial goods and food sales : year-on-year change (%)
April and May 2020, y-o-y comparison; seasonally and working-day adjusted volume terms
Notes :
- Sectors are classified according to the relative weight of the products included in the total aggregate of retail trade (see methodology)
- The aggregated and by sub-sector series are seasonally adjusted on an individual basis: the seasonally adjusted series do not represent the sum of the seasonally adjusted components.
- Sectors are classified according to the relative weight of the products included in the total aggregate of retail trade (see methodology)
- The aggregated and by sub-sector series are seasonally adjusted on an individual basis: the seasonally adjusted series do not represent the sum of the seasonally adjusted components.
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Updated on 18 June 2020