Christmas sales 2007

Christmas shopping to reach NOK 44 billion

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The average monthly turnover for January - November this year is NOK 31 billion. With NOK 44.4 billion in December, our shopping this month is more than 40 per cent higher than in the rest of the year.

Food and drinks for NOK 17 billion

The turnover of food and drinks is expected to be between NOK 16.5 billion and NOK 17 billion in December. This includes sales in retail stores and specialist stores. The average purchase of food and drinks per inhabitant amounts to NOK 3 600 per inhabitant in December. The turnover of wine and spirits alone amounts to more than NOK 2 billion. This is more than twice the average for the other months of 2007.

Silver and gold

Christmas shopping

Retail sales of gold and silverware will probably reach about NOK 730 million in December. That is three and a half times as much as the average of other months this year. Retail sales of books, magazines, games etc. are expected to be more than 130 per cent above the average of the other months of this year. The total turnover for these shops is expected to be about NOK 960 million, but this does not include Internet sales.

Clothes and shoes under the three

We expect retail sales of clothes to be over NOK 4 billion in December, or more than 60 per cent higher than the average for the other months of this year. Retail sales of shoes do not have the same increase as some other sectors, but will probably see an increase in turnover of 10 per cent. The estimated turnover for retail sales of shoes is close to NOK 500 million.

TV or flowers for Christmas?

Retail sales of radios, televisions, DVD players etc. will be twice as high in December as in the rest of the year. December turnover will probably rise to NOK 3.7 billion.

Many people like to give flowers for Christmas. In December retail sales of flowers and plants are almost twice as high as in the rest of the year, with total turnover estimated at nearly NOK 1 billion.

Sales in December 2007 for some Industries. NOK billion
 
  Sales in December Average sales
January to November 		More sales in December.
In per cent
 
Total retail sales 44 365 31 137 42.5
Retail sale in non-specialized stores and specialized stores 16 668 13 176 26.5
Wine and liquor 2 098 1 035  102.7
Bread, cakes and flour, confectionery  181  144 25.7
Other retail sale in non-specialized stores, among them sport goods 2 932 1 517 93.3
Textiles  582  330 76.4
Clothing 4 342 2 700 60.8
Footwear  476  433 9.9
Cosmetics and toilet articles  512  275 86.2
Electrical household appliances, radio and television and so on 3 657 1 759  107.9
Retail sale of music and video recordings in specialized stores  400  124  222.6
Furniture 1 923 1 568 22.6
Books, newspapers and stationery and so on  961  411  133.8
Watches, optical goods and photographic goods  904  503 79.7
Gold and silver ware  731  206  254.9
Flowers and plants  981  547  179.3
Retail sale not in stores  922  875  105.4
 

Internet sales highest in November

Non-store retail sales, which include mail order and Internet sales, are highest in November. The turnover in November last year came to NOK 994 million, while we expect to see it rise to NOK 1.1 billion this year. In September and October this year, non-store retail sales were higher than in December. For September, October and November this year, non-store retail sales are estimated at NOK 994, NOK 983 and NOK 922 million respectively. This may indicate that people do their Christmas shopping via mail order and the Internet in the autumn.

Figures in this article include VAT.

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