Easter shopping pushes volume up 14%

The retail trade volume index rose 13.9 per cent from March 1998 to March 1999. The seasonally adjusted volume index nevertheless declined by 2.3 per cent from February to March this year.

Retail trade in this connection excludes motor vehicles and gasoline.

The volume indices for March 1999 and March 1998 are difficult to compare because of Easter. In 1999, Maundy Thursday was on 1 April and the majority of Easter shopping was done in March. In 1998, Maundy Thursday fell on 9 April so most of the Easter shopping was consequently done in April. The seasonally adjusted volume index takes the timing of Easter into account. There is nevertheless considerable uncertainty in the model we use to correct for Easter. The seasonally adjusted index for March is therefore more uncertain than the index for the other months.

The volume index for non-store retailing, which consists for the most part of mail order trading, rose the most, by 23 per cent from March last year to March this year. Volume sales of food, beverages and tobacco in specialized stores increased by 19.5 per cent during the same period. This is mainly attributed to high sales of wine and spirits in March 1999. Volume sales of non-specialized stores with food, beverages and tobacco predominating rose 16.9 per cent. The volume index for stores selling pharmaceuticals, medical goods, cosmetics and toiletries rose 11.4 per cent. The retail group which includes clothing, footwear, electrical goods, furniture, books and building materials, increased 8.7 per cent in volume in March compared with March last year.

0.2 per cent change from preliminary figures
The retail trade value index went up 15.8 per cent from March 1998 to March 1999. This is 0.2 per cent higher that the preliminary figures published 23 April this year. The price index rose 1.6 per cent during the same period.

New Statistics
Index of retail sales, March 1999.
The statistics are published monthly in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. For more information about the index of retail sales contact: Solveig.Nygardseter@ssb.no., tel. +47 62 88 51 74 or Aud.Midtsundstad@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 54 31. For more information about the goods consumption index contact: Gisle.Froiland@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 46 91 or Kristian.Gimming@ssb.no, tel. +47 21 09 44 17.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 19, 1999