According to the provisional data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays fell in the retail sector by 0.4% in nominal terms in December 2019 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover fell by 0.4% compared with the previous month.

Real turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 0.1% in December 2019 compared with the previous year. Economists had expected a 0.2% increase. Real growth takes inflation into consideration. Compared with the previous month, real, seasonally adjusted retail trade turnover registered a decline of 0.4%.

Adjusted for sales days and holidays, the retail sector excluding service stations showed a 0.2% increase in nominal turnover in December 2019 compared with December 2018 (in real terms +0.7%). Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered a decline in nominal turnover of 0.6% (in real terms -0.3%), whereas the non-food sector registered a nominal plus of 0.8% (in real terms +1.6%).

Excluding service stations, the retail sector showed a seasonally adjusted decline in nominal turnover of 0.5% compared with the previous month (in real terms -0.5%). Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered a nominal minus of 1.3% (in real terms -1.7%). The non-food sector showed a minus of 0.1% (in real terms -0.2%).