In August 2012, retail trade in the country recorded change of 0.2% in terms of volume of sales and of 1.0% in terms of nominal revenue of sales, compared with the previous month (seasonally adjusted rates). Nominal revenue has kept positive increase rates since February and the volume of sales has recorded increasing rates for the third consecutive month. Nevertheless, both rates presented deceleration this month.  Over August 2011, there have been changes of 10.1% and 13.7% in volume of sales and in nominal revenue, respectively. The rates accumulated in the first eight months of the year and in the last 12 months are, respectively, 9.0% and 7.8% for volume of sales and of 12.0% and 11.4% for nominal revenue.

The complete publication is available at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/comercio/pmc/.

Among the ten activities which form extended retail, seven recorded positive rates

In the comparison with the immediately previous month, that is, in the in the seasonally adjusted series, seven of the ten activities of extended retail recorded positive change rates in volume of sales, as follows: Vehicles and motorcycles, parts and pieces (7.7%); Office, computer and communication material and equipment (5.3%); Construction material (3.4%); Furniture and household appliances (2.5%); Other articles of personal and domestic use (2.3%); Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries (1.1%); Fuels and lubricants (0.8%).  The other activities, listed below in increasing order of rates, recorded negative changes: Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles (-0.2%); Textiles, apparel and footwear (-0.8%) and Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco (-1.1%).

In the comparison August 2012/August 2011 (without seasonal adjustment), all the retail trade activities recorded increase in terms of volume of sales. The rates, in order of importance to the overall result, were: 8.5% for Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco; 16.6% for Furniture and household appliances; 10.1% for Fuels and lubricants; 10.4% for Other articles of personal and domestic use; 12.8% for Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries; 8.3% for Textiles, apparel and footwear; 11.9% for Office, computer and communication material and equipment and 4.0% for Books, newspapers, magazines and stationery articles.  

Hypermarkets, supermarkets, food products, beverages and tobacco, with change of 8.5% in the volume of sales of August over the same month in the previous year, accounted for the biggest contribution to the result of retail trade (37%). Despite being the main influence, this activity had a result below average, due to the performance of food prices, which rose above the overall index in 12 months:  8.4% in the group Meals taken in the household, versus 5.2% of the global inflation, according to IPCA.  In terms of accumulated results, changes rates were 8.8% for the index accumulated in the first seven months of the year and 7.2% for that of the last 12 months.

Furniture and household appliances, with increase of 16.6% in terms of volume of sales over August last year, accounted for the second main participation in the overall retail trade rate (29%). Considering accumulated results, changes reached 14.2%, both in the year and in 12 months.  This performance resulted from the increase of employment and of income, from the maintenance of credit, as well as from the fall of prices of electronic products, influenced by the reduction of IPI promoted by the government (-7.6% in the last 12 months until August, according to the IPCA).  

The segment of Fuels and lubricants, with change of 10.1% in terms of volume of sales in relation to August 2011, accounted for the third biggest contribution to the overall retail trade rate (9%). In terms of performance accumulated in the year, the change rate of this activity reached 5.8% and, in the last 12 months, 3.8%. The rise of prices at levels below average (Fuels, with -1.8% versus 5.2% of the overall index, in the last 12 months, according to IPCA) was the main factor accounting for the results of this segment.

The activity Other articles of personal and domestic use, which encompasses segments such as department stores, glasses shops, jewelry stores, sporting goods stores, toy stores, etc, accounted for the fourth main impact on the overall rate, with change of 10.4% in volume of sales over August 2011. The increase of salary volume and the approach of Father’s Day were other factors contributing to the expansion of this segment above average. In terms of accumulated indexes, the rate for the first eight months of the year was 7.7% and for the last 12 months, 5.5%.   

The activity Pharmaceutical, medical, orthopedic articles and toiletries, with the fifth biggest participation in the overall retail trade rate (8%) recorded increase of 12.8% versus the rate of August last year and accumulated rates of 11.2% in the year and 10.3% in the last 12 months.  The segment kept results above the overall average in all comparisons.  The main factors accounting for this result were the continued increase of salary volume, the offer of credit and the importance of the products which form this group.  

Extended retail trade changed by 2.7%

Extended retail trade recorded, in relation to the previous month, change of 2.7% in volume of sales and of 3.1% in nominal revenue, both with seasonal adjustment. In the comparison with the same month in the previous year (without seasonal adjustment), the changes were 5.7% for volume of sales and 16.1% for nominal revenue. In terms of indexes accumulated in the year and in the last 12 months, the sector recorded change rates of 8.6% and 6.8% for volume of sales and of 9.7% and 8.5% for nominal revenue of sales, respectively.

With reference to volume of sales, the activity Vehicles, motorcycles, parts and pieces recorded increase of 26.3% over the figure of August 2011, having accumulated, in the first seven months of the year and in the last twelve months, changes of 7.9% and 4.8%, respectively.  The fall of prices due to the reduction of IPI for the purchase of new cars justifies these changes.

As for the activity Construction Material, there were changes of 8.5% in the comparison August 2012/August 2011, of 8.7% accumulated in the year and of 7.8% accumulated in the last 12 months.  It is worth mentioning that the fiscal incentive of the government through the reduction of the IPI tax still affects the performance of this segment.

All the Federation Units recorded positive results over August 2011

The 27 Federation Units recorded positive results in the comparison between August 2012 and August 2011, with the most significant rates registered in: Roraima (28.8%); Amapá (24.6%); Mato Grosso do Sul (22.6%); Acre (14.9%); Ceará (13.6%) and Tocantins (13.2%). As for participation in the composition o retail trade, the highlights were, in order: São Paulo (12.4%); Minas Gerais (10.1%); Rio de Janeiro (6.2%); Ro Grande do Sul (9.5%) and Paraná (9.0%).

In terms of extended retail trade, all the states recorded positive changes.  The highest performance rates in terms of volume of sales were those of Mato Grosso (23.4%);  Tocantins (22.8%); Mato Grosso do Sul (21.4%); Roraima (21.0%) and Bahia (20.7%).  In terms of impact on the overall result of the sector, the highlights were the states of São Paulo (17.7%); Rio Grande do Sul (12.2%); Rio Grande do Sul (16.8%); Paraná (14.7%) and Minas Gerais (10.3%).  

Also by Federation Units, the results with seasonal adjustment (in the month/previous month comparison) for volume of sales showed that among the 27 Federation Units, 16 recorded positive rates, the main highlights being: Amapá (7.0%); Roraima (3.6%); Mato Grosso do Sul (2.9%) and Mato Grosso (1.9%).