Retail turnover over 17 percent up in January

Retail turnover data have been adjusted for changes in the shopping-day pattern. Retail sales tend to vary from one day to the next. If the shopping-day pattern is not taken into account, retail turnover in January 2022 was 15.8 percent higher than in the same month last year.

Turnover in non-food sector over 57 percent higher

In January, turnover in the non-food sector was up by 57.2 percent year-on-year. The volume of sales (adjusted for price changes) grew by 53 percent compared to the same month last year. The substantial growth was mainly due to the fact that turnover was particularly low in January 2021, when there was a lockdown for the entire month; this severely affected the non-food sector. A lockdown was also in place in January 2022, but only until the 15th. Relative to January 2020, turnover of non-food shops was down by less than 1 percent in January 2022.

In January, turnover of clothes shops and shops selling footwear and leather products was significantly higher than one year previously, when these shops suffered significant turnover losses. On balance, the turnover of these shops was lower in January 2022 than in January 2020. Other shops as well recorded year-on-year turnover growth in January 2022. With the exception of the furniture and home furnishings shops, they also generated more turnover than in January 2020.

Turnover of food shops virtually the same

Shops selling food, beverages and tobacco achieved 0.2 percent more turnover in January 2022 than in the same month last year. The volume of sales was 3.7 percent lower. Turnover at specialist shops was up by 7.7 percent, while turnover at supermarkets was down by 0.7 percent year-on-year. Relative to January 2020, the food retail sector realised 8.8 percent higher turnover.

Online turnover over 8 percent lower

In January, online turnover was down by 8.5 percent year-on-year. Web shops recorded a turnover decrease of 4.7 percent; their core activity is selling goods and services over the internet. Multi-channel retailers (retailers selling goods and services over the internet as a side activity) achieved 12.2 percent lower turnover in online sales. In January 2021 online turnover grew by almost 89 percent.