Retail trade Retail sales up slightly in September

Sales in the Swiss retail trade rose slightly in September compared to the same month last year. However, they were unable to match the figures from August.

Adjusted for the effects of sales and public holidays, retail sales rose by 1.0% in nominal terms in September compared to the previous year, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Friday based on provisional results. In real terms - i.e. taking inflation into account - the increase even amounted to 2.2 percent.

Communication and household appliances were more popular than food: retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco products rose by only 0.1% in nominal terms, while retail sales of non-food products increased by 3.5%.

Quite volatile statistics

Compared to the previous month of August (seasonally adjusted), however, the trend in the month under review was negative. In nominal and real terms, there was a fall of 0.5%.

Overall, the monthly figures for the retail trade are relatively volatile. In addition to September, there were also positive (nominally adjusted) figures in January, April, July and August in the year to date, while they were negative in February, March, May and June.

The FSO's retail sales statistics are based on a random sample of around 3,000 companies. It is a monthly survey, with small businesses being asked about their monthly turnover on a quarterly basis.

SDA