The Retail trade in the country recorded, in December/09, in the seasonally adjusted relation month/previous month, change rates of -0.4% for volume of sales and nominal revenue. Such results indicate an accommodation in the sector, after seven months of positive results, according to evolution in fixed-base indexes shown in Graphics 1 and 2. In the other comparisons (obtained from the series without adjustment), rates for volume of sales were 9.1% over December/08 and 5.9% in the accumulated in the year. Nominal revenue obtained rates of 11.9% in relation to the same month of 2009 and 10.0% in the year – Tables 1 and 2.

ANNUAL RESULTS

The Segment Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco recorded an 8.3% volume of sales expansion in 2009 compared to the previous year, a result that made it account for 67.8% of the annual rate of retail trade (Table 3). This performance reflects, especially, the increased purchase power of the population due to the increased salary volume of economy (obtained from the improvement of income and employment) and to the expanded credit, according to data from the Monthly Employment Survey (PME, of IBGE) and the Report of Banco Central of Brasil, respectively.

The activity Other articles of personal and domestic use exerted, in 2009, the second major impact in the annual result of Retail trade, being responsible for 11.9% of the overall rate when it recorded a 8.4% variation in volume of sales in the year, in comparison with 2008. Encompassing segments such as department stores, opticians, jewelry shops, sports articles and toy stores, among others, this activity had its performance influenced by the positive evolution of salary volume and by the gradual credit recovery.

The third major positive contribution to the overall result in 2009 was made by the segment Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles, which recorded growth of 11.8% in relation to the previous year. The expansion of salary volume, the sale of generic drugs and the population aging¹ form the foundation of the positive performance of the segment for the sixth consecutive year.

The activity Furniture and household appliances exerted, in 2009, the fourth major impact in the annual result of Retail trade, being responsible for 5.1% of the overall rate when it recorded a 2.1% variation in volume of sales in relation to the previous year. The gradual credit recovery, the improvement of Real and the employment stability², besides government incentives (IPI reduction for the called “white line”) were the main supporting factors of the activity positive result, which also completed six consecutive years of growth.

Exerting the fifth major positive impact in the retail trade result in the year, the activity Office, computer and communication material and equipment had a10.6% increase in the volume of sales over 2008. Among the factors that determined this performance, it is worth emphasizing the expressive price fall of computer articles (-7.5% in 2009 for subitem Microcomputers, according to IPCA) allowed by the Government fiscal measures to reduce digital exclusion.

The sixth major contribution to the overall rate was made by the activity Fuels and lubricants, which presents a positive result in volume of sales when it records an accumulated variation of 0.8% in 2009 in relation to the previous year. Despite the increased fleet of new cars, due to the incentive by the government through IPI reduction to new cars, this result reflects the symptoms of the financial crisis that hit Brazil in the last quarter of 2008, reducing industrial activity and, consequently, the flow of freight transportation in highways.

With a better relative performance than that of the previous year (the eight major contribution), the segment Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles presents the seventh major contribution to the overall rate, recording a variation of 9.6% in relation to 2008. This performance reflects economy recovery, principally from the second half of 2009, when the activity began to grow into two-digit rates, backed up by the strengthening of internal market.

The activity Textiles, apparel and footwear, with the eight participation in the retail trade overall rate, in 2009, presented negative result in volume of sales (-2.8%) when compared to 2008. This result is explained by the price rise of the sector basically because of Real devaluation during 2009. The group Apparel of IPCA had a 6.4% accumulated variation in 2009, whereas average inflation was 4.2% in the same year.

For Extended retail trade, formed by retail trade and the activities Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces and Construction material, the observed seasonally adjusted variations, in relation to November/09, were 0.6% for volume of sales and -0.2% for nominal revenue of sales. For the indicators without adjustment, variations were 14.3% in the relation Dec 09/Dec 08 and 6.9% in the accumulated in the year, and 15.3% and 7.8% for nominal revenue, respectively.

In relation to the activity Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces, results for volume of sales were the following: 1.6% over the previous month, seasonally adjusted, 28.2% in the comparison Dec 09/Dec 08, and 11.1% in the accumulated in 2009. The government incentive through IPI reduction for new cars during the year was the main factor for the growth of the activity.

The segment Construction material had a variation of 3.3% in the comparison with the previous month, seasonally adjusted, of 16.8% over December 2008 and a negative rate of -5.9% in the accumulated in the year. The macroeconomic context that basically influenced those results was: the financial crisis, which reduced industrial activity, affecting the industry of civil construction; and the IPI reduction for a list of construction materials. 

Still in the analysis of the adjusted series, four of the eight activities that form retail trade had negative variations: -3.4% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; -3.3% for Furniture and household appliances; -0.8% for Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles; and -0.8% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco. Positive variations were: 1.6% for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles; 0.7% for Fuels and lubricants; 0.2% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; and 0.2% for Office, computer and communication material and equipment.

In the relation December 09/December 08, all the eight activities obtained increased volume of sales. Rates, by order of importance at the overall result, were 9.7% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco; 13.2% for Furniture and household appliances; 6.8% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; 5.8% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; 10.7%for Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles; 5.3% for Fuels and lubricants; 3.7% for Office, computer and communication material and equipment and 9.3% for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles – Table 1.

RESULTS BY REGION

By Federation Unit, the seasonally adjusted results for volume of sales show, in the comparison month/previous month, 13 states with positive variations and 14 with decrease. The main increases occurred in Tocantins (6.1%), Amapá (5.8%) and Rio Grande do Sul (2.6%). The main decreases were in Mato Grosso do Sul (-3.9%), Amazonas (-3.6%), Espírito Santo (-2.1%), Paraná (-1.8%), Maranhão (-1.6%) and Paraíba (-1.6%).

Still in the analysis by region, all the 27 Federation Units had positive results in volume of sales in the comparison December 09/December 08, with minor variations in Acre (23.4%), Piauí (18.9%), Sergipe (18.7%), Alagoas (17.5%), Rondônia (16.4%) and Roraima (16.3%). As to participation in the composition of Retail trade rate, the highlights, in order, were São Paulo (8.4%), Minas Gerais (10.0%), Rio Grande do Sul (11.6%), Rio de Janeiro (6.2%) and Bahia (12.6%).

For Extended retail trade, the main performance rates in volume of sales occurred in Mato Grosso (24.1%), Goiás (21.9%), Espírito Santo (21.6%) and Tocantins (19.7%). In terms of impact on the overall result of the sector, the highlights were São Paulo (15.0%), Rio Grande do Sul (17.3%), Minas Gerais (13.1%), Paraná (17.2%) and Rio de Janeiro (8.8%).

In terms of results accumulated for 2009, the main increases in volume of sales of Retail trade occurred in Sergipe (13.3%), Piauí (13.3%), Roraima (11.3%), Rondônia (10.7%) and Ceará (9.5%). Only two states recorded negative variations: Espírito Santo (-1.1%) and Tocantins (-1.7%). For Extended retail trade, just Amazonas had a negative result: -0.6%. The highest rates were 15.8% in Piauí, 15.6% in Sergipe, 10.7% in Roraima and 9.9% in Tocantins.

QUARTERLY RESULTS

In terms of quarterly results, there was a significant increase in the growth rhythm of volume of sales from the third to the fourth quarter of the year, regarding Retail trade, with the rate increasing from 5.3% to 8.8%. As to Extended retail trade, the increase was more marked, changing from 5.2% to 13.9% of variation – Table 4.

Eight of the 10 activities surveyed showed an increased growth rhythm in the fourth quarter of the year, being the three main highlights: Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces, whose rate changed from 7.7% in the third quarter to 27.9%; Construction material (from -9.0% to 4.7%) and Textiles, apparel and footwear (from -4.8% to 5.1%). They were followed by Furniture and household appliances (from 1.0% to 10.4%); Fuels and lubricants (from -4.1% to 3.2%); Office, computer and communication material and equipment (from 4.0% to 7.6%); Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (from 4.8% to 5.4%) and Other articles of personal and domestic use (from 7.2% to 7.7%).

On the other hand, the following activities decreased the growth rhythm of volume of sales: Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (from 11.1% to 10.3%) and Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic and perfumery articles (from 12.1% to 11.4%).

HALF-YEAR RESULTS

The second half of 2009 presented a 7.2% growth in relation to the same period of the previous year, a superior result to that of the first half year, which reached a rate of 4.4%, showing a sector recovery in face of the financial crisis that hit Brazilian economy in the fourth quarter of 2008 – Graph 5.

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1. See Sociodemographic and Health Indicators in Brazil released by IBGE in September 2009.

2. Real income usually earned by employed persons, estimated in December 2009 for the group of six metropolitan areas, had a 0,7% rise in comparison with December 2008 and the volume of real income usually earned by employed persons, in the same period of comparison, had a 2,3% rise, according to PME of IBGE.