Retail sales accelerated their growth in July to 7.7% and added eight months of increases

Retail trade registered an advance in its sales of 7.7% in July in relation to the same month of 2022, a rate eight tenths higher than that of the previous month, as reported on Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With the data for July, retail trade sales have posted eight consecutive months of positive year-on-year rates.

Within the sector, sales of food products increased by 2.8% year-on-year, while sales of other products increased by 17.8% compared to July 2022, with increases of 16.9%, from 14 .2% and 1.9% in sales of personal equipment, other goods and household equipment, respectively.

By means of distribution, the greatest year-on-year increase in sales was recorded by large chains (14%), followed by small chains (12.3%), large stores (5.8%) and single-location companies (4, 6%).

Stripping out seasonal and calendar effects, retail trade invoicing increased by 7.3% in the seventh month of the year, a rate eight tenths higher than that of June.

In monthly terms (July over June), retail trade increased its sales by 0.2% in the seasonally adjusted series, a rate one tenth lower than that of the month of June. Despite this, this indicator accumulates five consecutive months of year-on-year increases.

By products, food sales increased by 0.3% in July in relation to the previous month, while those of the rest of the products advanced by 1%, with increases of 1.5% in sales of household equipment and 0.9% in personal equipment. Sales of other goods, for their part, did not experience variation.

By means of distribution, all of them increased their monthly sales in the seventh month of the year, with the exception of single-location companies, which cut them by 0.5%. The greatest rise was recorded by large chains (1.7%), followed by small chains (0.6%) and large stores (0.1%).

EMPLOYMENT SLOWS ITS GROWTH RATE TO 1.9%

As regards employment, the sector registered an interannual increase in employment of 1.9% in July, a rate three tenths lower than that of the previous month. With this rebound, employment in retail trade has now accumulated 27 consecutive months of year-on-year increases.

The greatest year-on-year increase in employment is observed in small chains (6.2%), followed by large chains (3.1%), single-location companies (0.2%) and large stores (0.1%) .

In monthly terms, employment in the sector grew by 1.1%, highlighting the rise in occupancy at service stations (2.3%) and in large stores (2%) and large chains (1.4% ).

ALL THE COMMUNITIES INCREASE THEIR SALES

Retail sales rose in the annual rate in all the autonomous communities during the month of July.

The greatest increases were registered in Madrid (12%), the Balearic Islands (10.2%) and the Valencian Community (8.9%), while the most moderate increases occurred in Extremadura (2.5%), Castilla y León ( 2.8%), Navarra (3.5%) and the Basque Country (3.6%).

For its part, employment in retail trade increased in 13 communities in the annual rate, with Catalonia (4.9%) and the Balearic Islands (3.7%) leading the rises.

At the other extreme, four communities cut their workforce in retail trade in relation to July 2022: Asturias (-1.1%), Navarra (-1%), La Rioja (-0.9%) and Murcia (- 0.3%). Occupation also fell in the autonomous city of Ceuta (-0.3%).