Retail turnover down

Turnover in the retail sector was 3 percent down in January on the same month last year. Retail prices fell by 1 percent in this period, the volume was 2 percent smaller.

Figure from Statistics Netherlands show that the development for non-food shops, where turnover fell by 5.9 percent, was in contrast to the 1.4 percent increase in turnover for food shops.

Retail turnover was positively affected by the different composition of shopping days compared with January last year.

Lower turnover for furniture shops

Shops selling furniture, furnishings and home decoration items booked just over 10 percent less turnover in January than in the previous year. Clothes shops, consumer electronics stores and textile supermarkets also had lower turnover levels than twelve months previously. In the non-food sector, only shops selling household articles and chemists sold more than in January 2003.

The lower turnover in January continues the development in 2003 when turnover fell by nearly 6 percent.

Higher turnover for supermarkets

Supermarkets booked nearly 3 percent more turnover than in January last year, while prices in this sector were 0.7 percent lower. Prices in supermarkets have been pushed down by the price war that the major supermarket chains have been waging since the end of October 2003.

Specialist shops in the food sector, such as greengrocers and butchers, saw  their turnover reduced by 5.5 percent in January. 

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