Monthly Survey of Trade
Retail interrupts seven months of high in December, but sales grow 1.8% in 2019
February 12, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: February 13, 2020 11h13 AM
National retail had a slight decrease of 0.1% in December, in comparison with November of last year, interrupting seven consecutive months of advance in sales. In the cumulative rate in 2019, the sector grew 1.8% and closed the third consecutive year of positive rates, although there was a slowdown in relation to 2017 (2.1%) and 2018 (2.3%). The data are from the Monthly Trade Survey, released today (12) by IBGE.
Against December 2018, there was increase of 2.6% in sales. The retail trade recorded greater dynamism in the second half of 2019 (3.3%) than in the first (0.6%), compared to the same period of the previous year.
“The presence of additional resources due to the release of funds (FGTS withdrawals) from September onwards and the improvement in the credit grant to individuals are some factors that might have influenced this result in the second semester. The trade has not fully recovered from the 2015 and 2016 crisis yet, although it is at its highest moment since October 2014”, says survey manager, Isabella Nunes.
Six out of the eight surveyed activities in the retail trade recorded negative rates from November to December, and the greatest impact in the general index was exerted by the retreat in hypermarkets, supermarkets, food, beverages and tobacco (-1.2%).
“This activity, which has a weight of 44% in the total retail, was particularly affected by the behavior of meat prices”, says Isabella Nunes.
Negative results in this comparison also came from: pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles, toiletries and cosmetics (-2.0%); fabrics, apparel and footwear (-1.0%); office, computer and communication material and equipment (-10.9%); fuels and lubricants (-0.4%) and other personal and household articles (-0.1%). On the other hand, two sectors recorded advances, softening the fall in the general index: furniture and household appliances (3.4%) and books, newspapers, magazines and stationery (11.6%).
"The Black Friday in 2019 was in the last Friday of November, which led the trade to expand the period of discounts until the weekend and, thus, many of the sales occurred in December, on the Sunday, the 1st. This might have influenced the positive results for the sector of furniture and household appliance", says Ms. Nunes.
Extended retail retreats 0.8% in December
Considering the extended retail trade, which includes, besides retail, the activities of vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and construction material, the volume of sales in December decreased 0.8% in comparison with November. The result was affected, mainly, by the retreat of 4.0% in vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and of 1.1% in construction material, both, after the drop of 1.6% and 0.1%, respectively, recorded in the previous month.
In relation to December of the previous year, the positive results prevail in five out of the eight activities. The sector of other personal and household articles, which includes department stores, glasses shops, jewelry shops, sporting goods stores, toys stores, etc., had the highest contribution to the general result of retail, with an advance of 12.9%, closing 2019 with an advance of 6.0% against 2018. The sector of furniture and household appliances, with an increase of 18.6% in the volume of sales, the best rate since March 2012 (20.9%), exerted the second major positive impact, accumulating an index of 3.6% in the year.
The sector of hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco, with a retreat of 2.9% in the volume of sales compared to December 2018, exerted the major negative impact on the formation of the global retail rate. The analysis by the cumulative index in the year recorded loss of pace from 0.8% in November to 0.4% in December. Lastly, the sales volume of fuels and lubricants (-1.0%) also edged down, exerting the second major negative contribution to the total retail result.
