MADRID, 31 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Retail trade registered an average increase in sales of 6.1% in 2023, its largest increase since the beginning of the series in 2000, as reported this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
With the rebound achieved in 2023, retail trade has had three years of sales growth after the black year that 2020 was for the sector due to the Covid crisis, with a drop in sales in that year of 6.8%.
Eliminating seasonal and calendar effects, retail trade turnover increased by 6% in 2023.
In the last month of 2023, retail sales recorded a year-on-year increase of 3.4%, a rate 2.5 points lower than that of the previous month. With this year-on-year rebound, retail trade turnover chained 13 consecutive months of increases.
In monthly rate (December 2023 over November of the same year) and eliminating the seasonal and calendar effect, retail sales fell 1.7%, a rate 4.9 points lower than that of the previous month.
EMPLOYMENT MODERATES ITS ANNUAL GROWTH RATE TO 1.8%
Regarding employment, retail trade increased its employment by 1.8% on average in 2023, a rate four tenths lower than that of 2022, when employment in the sector increased by 2.2%. However, with the rebound in 2023, there are three consecutive years of increases in employment.
By distribution modes, increases in occupancy were recorded in all distribution modes last year, especially in large chains (3.2%) and small chains (2.7%).
They were followed by large stores, with an increase in employment of 1.2%, and single-location companies, which added 0.7% more employees compared to 2022. At service stations, employment increased in 2023 by a average of 1.8%.
BIG CHAINS, WHERE SALES INCREASE THE MOST
Large chains were the distribution mode that increased their sales the most in 2023, billing on average 11.2% more than in 2022, followed by small chains (8.9%), single-location companies (4.2% ) and large stores (4.1%).
Within the latter, food sales decreased by 0.3% in 2023, while those of other products increased by 11% on average.
At a general level, including all distribution modes, sales of food products increased by 1.4% in 2023, while those of non-food products soared by 14.9%.
Among the latter, the greatest increase in sales occurred in the personal equipment segment (15.7%), followed by other goods (-13.2%). In contrast, sales of household equipment decreased by an average of 0.6% last year.
Retail sales, excluding gas stations, rose 7.5% in 2023 compared to 2022, while sales at gas stations fell 2.6%.
BALEARIC ISLANDS LEADED THE INCREASE IN SALES AND EMPLOYMENT IN 2023
In the whole of 2023, all communities increased retail sales compared to 2022. The Balearic Islands was the region that increased turnover the most, with an increase of 10.5%, the only community that registered a double-digit increase.
Also noteworthy are the increases in Madrid (8.1%), Valencian Community (7.5%) and the Canary Islands (7.3%).
At the other extreme, with the most moderate average increases in sales in retail trade, were Castilla y León (2.2%) and Navarra (2.8%), along with the autonomous city of Melilla (2.7%). %).
Regarding employment, fourteen communities increased their number of people employed in the sector during 2023, especially in the Balearic Islands (4.3%) and the Canary Islands (3.3%).
On the other hand, employment in retail trade decreased in 2023 in Asturias (-1.1%), La Rioja (-0.2%) and Murcia (-0.1%), as well as in the autonomous city of Ceuta ( -1.1%).
