Index of wholesale and retail sales, October 1999

Retail trade in this connection excludes motor vehicles and gasoline. The unadjusted volume index of retail sales fell a total of 2.7 per cent from October last year to October this year. October 1998 had one more trading day. In the first 10 months of this year, the volume index rose by 0.7 per cent compared with the same period last year. The retail sales value index fell altogether 1.0 per cent in October 1999 compared with October last year. The price index of retail sales rose 1.8 per cent in the same period.

The value index for retail sales in non-specialized stores, which mainly consist of grocery stores, went down 1.5 per cent in October compared with October 1998. Retail sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores increased 1.3 per cent. Stores selling pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries saw a 3.7 per cent increase in sales in the same period. Sales of other new goods, which include clothing, shoes, electrical goods, furniture and building materials, dropped 1.5 per cent.

Preliminary figures

The statistics are based on 4 100 reports, 400 fewer than what normally would be used for publishing the final retail sales index. The data have not been as thoroughly revised as they will be when the final retail sales index for October is published on 7 December.