Monthly Survey of Trade
Retail sales up by 0.6% in September, with rise of the supermarket sector
November 08, 2023 09h00 AM | Last Updated: November 14, 2023 03h16 AM
Retail sales decreased by 0.6% from August to September. In the previous month, there was a change of -0.1%. The sector had a cumulative increase of 1.8% in the year and of 1.7% in 12 months. Retail is then 4.9% above the pre-pandemiclevel, of February 2020, and 1.5% below the level of the time series of the Mnthly Survey of Trade (PMC), reached by October in the same year. The data were released today (8) by the IBGE.
Only three of the eight activities analyzed in retail recorded positive results. Fuels and lubricants (2.1%), Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (1.6%) and Pharmaceutical, medical and orthopedic articles and toiletries (0.4%). The sector of hyper and supermarkets accounted for the main impact on the positive result of retail trade and it is 9.1% above the pre-pandemic level.
“That sector accounts for a major contribution to the indicator, with an increase of 1.6%, and that placed retail trade out of the stability margin. One of the main factors accounting for this result is the budget choice of families, which is aimed at basic goods. With the increase of the employed population and of wagebill, people have spent their usual earnings in hyper and supermarkets and there is little left to spend in other activities,” says the manager of PMC, Cristiano Santos. From August to September, the sector of hyper and supermarkets accounted for 56% of retail trade.
The five activities which recorded negative changes were: Fuels and lubricants (-1.7%), Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear (-1.1%), Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-1.1%), Other personal and domestic articles (-0.9%) and Office, computer and communication equipment and material (-0.1%).
The main negative impact came from the sector of fuels and lubricants (-1.7%), which accounts for the second main contribution to retail trade. The drop of this activity takes place after two consecutive months with positive results. “There was an increase of revenue of gasoline, but not enough to make up for inflation,” says the resercher. In extended retail, Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and accessories dropped by 0.9% and Construction material, by -2.0%.
Retail grows 3.3% from September last year
Volume of retail sales in Brazil advanced by 3.3% from September 2022. This is the fourth consecutive increase of this indicator. Four of the eight activities surveyed increasedd in the same comparison. Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (7.5%), Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries (5.9%), Office, computer and communication equipment and material (3.8%) and Furniture and household applainces (2.0%).
The other activites recorded increases from September last year: Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (-18.3%), Other personal and domestic articles (–9.1%), Fuels and lubricants (-8.7%) and Fabric, wearing apparel and footwear (-2.6%). As for extended retail, in the interannual comparison, Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and accessories (8.9%) and Whoselsale market of food products, beverages and tobacco recorded increases, whereas Construction material (-5.6%) dropped.
Sales grow in 13 Federation Units
Against the previous month, retail trade recorded positive results in 13 of the 27 Federation units, mainly in Rio de Janeiro (3.1%), Ceará (2.9%) and Mato Grosso (2.0%). Other 13 Federation Units had negative results, among which Roraima (-2.7%), Rio Grande do Sul (-2.8%) and Espírito Santo (-2.6%) stand out. The volume of sales of Tocantins was stable (0.0%) in this comparison.
Also againt August, extended retail trade changed by 0.2%, with negative changes in 17 Federation Units. Rio Grande do Sul (-4.6%), Mato Grosso do Sul (-2.4%) and Roraima (-2.3%). stood out. As for positive figures, the main percentage changes were those of Rio de Janeiro (2.5%), Maranhão (2.2%) and Ceará (2.1%). There was stability (0.0%) in Tocantins and São Paulo.
More about the survey
PMC produces indicators to monitor the short-term behavior of retail trade in Brazil, investigating the gross revenue of formal enterprises with 20 or more employed persons and whose major activity is retail trade.
Having started in 1995, the PMC presents monthly results of changes in sales volume and nominal revenue for retail trade and extended retail trade (cars and construction material) for Brazil and Federation Units. The results are available at Sidra. The next release of the survey will be on August 09.
