Retail Sales Decrease 0.5% In October 2017
After adjusting for the retail sales rate of inflation – measured at 1.6% in October – the volume of retail sales decreased 0.5%, according to the recently released Retail Sales Index.
“Retailers of liquor stores registered the largest decline in sales volume of 13.6%. In contrast, motor vehicle dealers recorded the largest gain in sales volume of 15.8%,” the report said.
Chart extracted from the report:
“In value terms, retail sales rose 1.0% to an estimated $92.5 million. Returning residents declared overseas purchases valued at $5.1 million, which was 21.4% higher than October 2016. This contributed to a combined local and overseas spending of $97.6 million.
“Excluding Sundays, there were 26 shopping days during the month, the same as in October 2016.”
The full 2017 October Retail Sales Index is below [PDF here]:
Not a good trend for our new PLP Govt. – September 2017 declined 0.8%, October 2017 declined 0.5%..