Continued small increase in retail sales

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The seasonally-adjusted volume index of retail sales increased by 0.2 per cent from March to April 2017. This follows an increase of 0.1 per cent from February to March this year.

The long-term trend in retail sales shows a slight increase from the summer last year.

Figure 1. Retail sales volume index, seasonally adjusted and trend. 2010=100

Retail trade, except sales of motor vehicles seasonally adjusted Retail trade, except sales of motor vehicles trend
Jan. 2011 101 101.4
Feb. 2011 101.5 101.3
Mar. 2011 100.4 101.3
Apr. 2011 101.8 101.3
May 2011 101.7 101.4
June 2011 101.3 101.7
July 2011 101.7 102.1
Aug. 2011 103.5 102.5
Sept. 2011 103.1 102.9
Oct. 2011 103.8 103.3
Nov. 2011 103.3 103.7
Dec. 2011 103.3 103.9
Jan. 2012 104.4 104.2
Feb. 2012 104.4 104.4
Mar. 2012 105.3 104.7
Apr. 2012 104.3 104.9
May 2012 106.7 105.2
June 2012 104.7 105.3
July 2012 105.3 105.4
Aug. 2012 105.3 105.4
Sept. 2012 105.9 105.4
Oct. 2012 105.1 105.6
Nov. 2012 105.4 105.7
Dec. 2012 105.9 106.1
Jan. 2013 107.8 106.4
Feb. 2013 107.2 106.7
Mar. 2013 106.8 106.8
Apr. 2013 105.6 106.9
May 2013 108.7 107
June 2013 107.4 107
July 2013 106.8 107
Aug. 2013 107 107
Sept. 2013 107.5 107
Oct. 2013 106.5 107
Nov. 2013 106.7 107.1
Dec. 2013 107.2 107.2
Jan. 2014 107.3 107.5
Feb. 2014 107.9 107.8
Mar. 2014 108.4 108.2
Apr. 2014 109.3 108.6
May 2014 108.7 108.8
June 2014 109.5 108.9
July 2014 107.7 108.9
Aug. 2014 108.5 108.9
Sept. 2014 108.9 108.8
Oct. 2014 108.6 108.8
Nov. 2014 108.6 108.9
Dec. 2014 109.6 109
Jan. 2015 108.5 109.2
Feb. 2015 109.3 109.3
Mar. 2015 109.7 109.4
Apr. 2015 112.1 109.4
May 2015 108 109.3
June 2015 108.8 109.1
July 2015 109.5 109
Aug. 2015 109.7 109
Sept. 2015 108.5 109.1
Oct. 2015 109.3 109.2
Nov. 2015 109.3 109.2
Dec. 2015 108.8 109
Jan. 2016 109.2 108.8
Feb. 2016 108.4 108.4
Mar. 2016 107.2 108.2
Apr. 2016 107.5 108.1
May 2016 109.7 108.1
June 2016 108.7 108.2
July 2016 108.1 108.4
Aug. 2016 108.5 108.5
Sept. 2016 108.1 108.7
Oct. 2016 109.2 108.8
Nov. 2016 109.4 108.9
Dec. 2016 106.8 109
Jan. 2017 108.4 109.3
Feb. 2017 109.5 109.5
Mar. 2017 109.7 109.7
Apr. 2017 109.9 109.9

Working-day adjusted

Working-day adjusted figures show that retail sales increase by 2.0 per cent in the period February - April 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.

Seasonally-adjusted figures for March and April are more uncertain

Due to Easter, it is difficult to compare the sales index for March and April with the corresponding months in 2016. The seasonally-adjusted index takes the Easter holidays in March or April into account, but it is difficult to correct for Easter shopping. Therefore, the seasonally-adjusted index for April is more uncertain than the seasonally-adjusted indices for the other months.

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