Retail Sales Decreased 4.2% In December

March 6, 2020

Today [March 6] the Department of Statistics release the December 2019 Retail Sales Index.

A Government spokesperson said, “After adjusting for the retail sales rate of inflation, measured at 1.0 per cent in December, the overall volume of local retail sales decreased 4.2 per cent.

“Meanwhile, total selected overseas declarations increased 19.1 per cent in December 2019 compared to December 2018. Overseas declarations includes imports received via courier, residents through the airport, households by sea and the post office.”

Chart extracted from the report:

12-December 2019 Retail Sales publication

Highlighted below are the December 2019 year-over-year changes for each of the seven local retail sectors:

  • Apparel Stores’ sales volume declined 16.4 per cent.
  • Motor Vehicle Stores’ sales volume decreased 14.1 per cent.
  • Building Material Stores’ sales volume declined 7.6 per cent.
  • Liquor Stores’ sales volume decreased 6.2 per cent.
  • Service Stations’ sales volume decreased 2.7 per cent.
  • All Other Store Types’ sales volume decreased 2.0 per cent.
  • Food Stores’ sales volume decreased 1.4 per cent.

The full December 2019 Retail Sales Index publication follows below [PDF here]:

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Category: All, Business, News

Comments (15)

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  1. sandgrownan says:

    Tick tock.

    So, while the PLP unveil limited immigration reform you know the easy bits to clear up anomalies, the real issue, of there not being enough people to sustain Bermuda, continues unaddressed.

    Do they even understand what they have done?

    • MB says:

      The Holiday period and food sales are down
      That tells you something right there
      Number of consumers decreasing
      This is not sustainable
      Wake up Bermuda

      • trufth says:

        The Holiday period and alcohol sales are down.

  2. Donderered says:

    Doesn’t matter, the PLP think that retail despite employing 4500 bermudians, is not a significant economic sector anyway

    • MB says:

      I thought that was a surprisingly mean comment by the minister…showing lack of understanding of the industry – saying that it’s up to solely them to increase sales … but it’s a losing battle when all the mktg and training $ you spend … is not enough to make up for declining consumer population

  3. Red rose says:

    Never ending …. god help them if coronavirus comes here

  4. JohnnyB says:

    PLP crushin it

  5. Triangle Drifter says:

    What did Gomer Pyle say? “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

  6. waynehoo says:

    Well this is clearly the fault of Santa Claus handing out free gifts so people don’t spend as much.

  7. Sad says:

    Things that make you go hmmmm.

  8. Question says:

    The worst December performance in living memory. A sign of a wonderful robust economy, according to our government.

  9. Trump supporter says:

    As long as the voters keep them in, we can’t blame the govt they are clueless that already been proven.. So now blame the voters for keeping the clueless ones in, or blame the friends and family.

    • Sandgrownan says:

      Churchill said that an argument against democracy was a conversation with the average voter.

  10. Ringmaster says:

    So bad even Furbert has given up holding their release while he “deep dives the numbers”. Release them on a Friday along with the immigration bill to divert attention. Who cares if Bermudians lose their jobs, after all retail is not important as we have been told by PLP MPs.

  11. Gustav says:

    You got , what you voted for……..