Swiss retail sales rose slightly compared to December 2018

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%).