Retail Sales Decrease 2.4% In December 2016
Retail sales in December 2016 decreased 2.4% below the $111.6 million recorded in December 2015, and after adjusting for the annual retail sales rate of inflation — measured at 0.9% in December — the volume of retail sales decreased 3.2%, according to the recently released Retail Sales Index.
“Three of the seven sectors experienced decreases in sales revenue with motor vehicles stores registering the largest decline of 25.4%. In contrast, building material stores registered the largest increase in sales receipts of 1.8%,” the report said.
Chart extracted from the report:
“Returning residents declared overseas purchases valued at $6.5 million, a decline of 4.4% when compared to December 2015. This contributed to a combined local and overseas spending of $115.4 million.
“Excluding Sundays, there were 25 shopping days during the month, one more than in December 2015.”
The full 2016 December Retail Sales Index is below [PDF here]:
