New increase in distance sales in December
The volume of sales in retail trade, excluding fuels, has increased by 5.8 % in December 2020 compared to the same month last year.
Despite the reopening of shops deemed non-essential on 1 December[1], it is still the sector of retail sale via mail order houses or via Internet which increases the most with sales volumes 52.6 % higher than in December 2019. In the same period, other sharp increases were registered for “Audio and video equipment, hardware, paints and glass, electrical household appliances, etc.” and " other retail sale in non-specialised stores”, i.e. increases of 12.3 % and 10.0 %, respectively.
The sharpest decrease was registered for ‘Textiles, clothing and footwear’, i.e. a fall of 6.9 %.
These indices are expressed with reference year 2015=100.
[1] From 6 November 2020 onwards, at the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19, shops considered non-essential had to close and some sections considered non-essential in supermarkets were suppressed. Since 1 December 2020 these shops have reopened to customers and all the sections of the supermarkets are once again accessible.
Gross index and trend of the turnover of the retail trade, Belgium, last 4 months
Access to latest statisticsPurpose and brief description
Evolution of the turnover in the retail trade.
Population
Enterprises carrying out a main economic activity in the division 47 of the NACE Rev. 2 (Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles)
Frequency
Monthly.
Timing of publication
Preliminary results available 30 days after the reference period; final results available 50 days after the reference period
Definitions
Economic activity (NACE-BEL): Official nomenclature with an "X" at the end of the number since the information is only available for 4 positions.
Deflated gross index: Deflated gross index of the turnover in the retail trade
Deflated index (SA-WDA): deflated index of the turnover in the retail trade, seasonnally adjusted and working day adjusted
Deflated index (WDA): deflated index of the turnover in the retail trade, working day adjusted
Gross index: gross index of the turnover in the retail trade
Index (SA-WDA): index of the turnover in the retail trade, seasonnally adjusted and working day adjusted
Index (WDA): index of the turnover in the retail trade, working day adjusted
Trend of the deflated index: trend of the deflated index of the turnover in the retail trade
Trend of the index: trend of the index of the turnover in the retail trade.