High retail trade so far in 1998

The volume index of retail sales, excluding motor vehicles and gasoline, rose by 6.4 percent in the first five months of 1998 compared with the same period a year ago. The value index increased by 8.4 percent in the same period.

It is retail sales of other new goods in specialised stores, e.g. clothing, shoes, electrical appliances, furniture, hardware, paint and construction products, that rose the most, with a 13 percent increase in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year. The sales growth in volume in shops with sales of pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries was 6.1 percent in the same period. Retail sales in non-specialised stores, which consist mainly of grocer's shops, increased the volume index by 2.5 percent. The volume of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores declined by 4.8 percent.

High seasonally adjusted index

The seasonally adjust volume index of retail sales, excluding motor vehicles and gasoline, increased by 5.3 percent from April to May this year. The seasonally adjusted volume index for May was 117.8 percent. It is difficult to seasonally adjust the data for May because of movable holidays.

9.5 percent increase in May

The volume index of retail sales, excluding motor vehicles and gasoline, increased by 9.5 percent in May this year compared with May last year. It was the retail sales of other new goods in specialised stores that increased sales in volume most by fully 15.7 percent from May 1997 to May 1998. The volume index for retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialised stores decreased by 5.6 percent in the same period.

New Statistics

Index of Retail Sales, May 1998.
These statistics are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information and e-mail, contact:
On the Index of Retail Sales: solveig.nygardseter@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 74, or peder.nas@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 37.
On the Consumer Price Index: kristian.gimming@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 44 17, or grethe.sagen@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 46 99.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 28-29, 1998