Turnover retail trade lower

• Turnover retail trade down 4.9 percent in 2009
• December also saw turnover decrease

According to the latest figures by Statistics Netherlands, turnover of the Dutch retail trade in 2009 was down by 4.9 percent on 2008. The volume dipped by 4.8 percent in 2009. Prices stayed about the same. This means that the turnover in the retail trade was over 5 billion euro less than in 2008.

Non-food retail was particularly hard hit by the turnover downturn in 2009, with more than 7 percent negative. Shops in consumer electronics, DIY and home furnishings saw a massive dip in turnover. Drugstores saw a slight increase in turnover.

Besides the non-food retailers, petrol stations also had substantially less turnover than in 2008. Their turnover was over 11 percent below the 2008 level. This turnover development was related to the sharp dip in fuel prices in 2009.

In contrast to previous years, supermarkets did not realise volume growth in 2009. Turnover increased, but this was entirely due to the prices rises of nearly 2 percent on 2008. Specialist food shops saw nearly 5 percent in turnover. In comparison with 2008 the turnover of food, beverages and tobacco stores was up by almost 1 percent.

Dutch retail trade turnover in December was down by over 3 percent on December 2008. The massive drop in turnover for opticians, due to the great number of purchases in December 2008, has also contributed to this downturn in turnover.