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Weekly Bulletin issue no. 24, 1998 <sti>Stikktittel

Index of retail sales, April 1998:

Brisk retail sales so far in 1998

The volume index for retail sales excluding motor vehicles and gasoline rose 5.5 per cent in the first four months of 1998 compared to the same period last year. The value index went up 7.4 per cent and the price index 1.9 per cent in the same period.
Retail sales of other new goods including clothing, shoes, electrical goods, furniture, hardware, paint and building materials rose the most, by 12.2 per cent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year. The sales volume of shops selling pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries grew 5.2 per cent during the same period. Retail sales of non-specialized shops, which for the most part consist of grocery stores, pushed the volume index up 1.6 per cent . The volume of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores went down 4.5 per cent mainly because of a 5.8 per cent increase in prices.

High seasonally adjusted index

The seasonally adjusted volume index for retail trade excluding motor vehicles and gasoline rose by 0.9 per cent from March to April this year. The seasonally adjusted volume index for April was 111.1 per cent.

2.4 per cent increase in April

The volume index for retail sales excluding motor vehicles and gasoline rose 2.4 per cent in April this year compared to April last year. Retail sales in non-specialized stores pushed the volume of sales up the most, with 5.5 per cent from April 1997 to April 1998. The volume index for non-store retail sales (mail order etc.) plunged by 26.7 per cent during the same period.

Revision of index of retail sales

As described in our press release on 22 May, we underestimated the growth in previously published retail sales indices in 1997 and 1998, particularly towards the end of last year and in the first three month of 1998. Based on the valued added tax-based statistics for retail sales in 1997, which are now complete for the entire year, the index for 1997 and the first three months of 1998 have been revised. Consequently, the growth from 1996 to 1997 has been adjusted upwards from 5.2 to 6.7 per cent, and the growth from first quarter 1997 to first quarter 1998 has been adjusted up from 5.9 to 8.5 per cent. The reasons for the adjustments are imbalances in the index of retail sales caused by business changes in 1997 and that the weight for new establishments is too low.

New statistics

Index of retail sales, April 1998.
Statistics are published every month in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information, contact: solveig.nygardseter@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 74 or rune.sonsterudbraten@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 37.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 24, 1998