3298_not-searchable
/en/varehandel-og-tjenesteyting/statistikker/vki/arkiv
3298
Lower commodity consumption in April
statistikk
2007-05-31T10:00:00.000Z
Wholesale and retail trade and service activities;Income and consumption;National accounts and business cycles
en
vki, Index of household consumption of goods, volume index, household consumption (for example car purchase, food consumption, electricity consumption)Wholesale and retail trade , Consumption, National accounts , Income and consumption, National accounts and business cycles, Wholesale and retail trade and service activities
false

Index of household consumption of goods, April 2007

Content

Published:

This is an archived release.

Go to latest release

Lower commodity consumption in April

Seasonally adjusted index of commodity consumption dropped by 1.1 per cent from March to April after an increase of 0.8 per cent from February to March. A fall has been registered in all the consumption groups, except electricity. The strong fall in purchases of cars pulled the index downwards.

The sales of cars to consumers continues their downwards slope following a strong increase in December and January. Despite the decrease in seasonal adjusted figures for the three consecutive months, purchases of cars are still 10 per cent higher than April 2006 figures.

Less consumption of beverages

The consumption of foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco decreased by 1.2 per cent from March to April There was a strong increase from February to March namely 1.6 per cent. It’s the consumption of beverages that pulls down the index, while the consumption of food increases.

Consumption of other goods decreased by 0.6 per cent from March to April, This is due to the decrease in the lower consumption of clothing and shoes. The decrease is a result of the high volume index for March. Since the purchases of clothing and shoe ware for the first four months of 2007 were 17% higher than the same period last year.

Still low consumption of electricity and heating fuels

The consumption of electricity and heating fuels went up by 0.7 per cent in April compared with the previous month. The level of consumption of electricity and heating fuels on the other hand was lower compared with the same period in 2006.

It is difficult to adjust for the effects of the Easter in terms of seasonal adjustment. That is why the seasonal adjusted indices of commodity consumption index are somewhat uncertain compared with the indices of other months. The rate of growth of the unadjusted figures is influenced by the Easter as well.

Method differs from the index of retail sale

The index of commodity consumption describes the development in household consumption of goods, while the index of retail sales measures the development in retail sales. As opposed to the index of retail sales, the index of commodity consumption has a wider choice of commodities. Calculation of the index of commodity consumption is based on information from the index of retail sales plus purchase of cars (initial registration), sales data from petrol stations (petrol and other goods) and consumption of electricity and heating fuels. This may result in deviations in the development of the two indices.

The index of commodity consumption uses the same definitions and methods of compilation as the quarterly national accounts, and thus serves as an indicator of household consumption of goods in the quarterly national accounts.

Since Statistics Norway gives high priority in timeliness of release of statistics, the index of commodity consumption may have to rely on preliminary estimates in some cases. This implies that such estimates will be replaced in the subsequent releases.

Index of commodity consumption, April 2007. Sesonally
adjusted and unadjusted volume index. April 2006-April 2007.
1995=1001
Period Sesonally adjusted Change from
previous month.
Per cent 		Unadjusted Change from the same
month last year.
Per cent
2006        
April  141.8 0.5  128.9 -3.3
May  143.7 1.3  141.6 7.4
June  143.7 0.0  148.9 3.9
July  144.5 0.6  143.1 2.5
August  144.7 0.1  148.8 4.6
September  145.6 0.6  140.0 4.5
October  145.2 -0.3  141.7 5.7
November  146.4 0.8  148.9 5.8
December  149.3 2.0  191.9 4.0
2007        
January  152.3 2.1  146.4 10.6
February  151.8 -0.3  131.1 8.0
March  153.1 0.8  153.4 8.9
April  151.4 -1.1  135.0 4.8
1  Please note that the indices have been revised.