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Published: 15 June 2016

Motor vehicle sales continued growing in April

According to Statistics Finland, sales in total trade decreased by 0.5 per cent in April from April 2015. Motor vehicle sales grew by 12.8 per cent and retail trade sales by 1.0 per cent in April. Sales in department stores went up by 10.1 per cent while sales of daily consumer goods went down by 1.6 per cent. Development was weakest in wholesale trade: sales declined by 4.5 per cent year-on-year.

Annual change in turnover in trade industries, % (TOL 2008)

Sales volume grew in total trade by 1.9 per cent in April from the year before

The sales volume in motor vehicle increased by 12.0 per cent from April 2015. The growth was affected by increased sales of new motor vehicles, as Statistics Finland’s data indicate that the number of first registrations of motor vehicles was also 10.4 per cent higher in April than in April 2015. The sales volume in retail trade increased by 1.9 per cent. By contrast, the sales volume in wholesale trade fell by 0.8 per cent from one year ago. Thus, sales volume increased in total trade by 1.9 per cent.

The volume index of sales is calculated by removing the effect of price changes from the value index series. Due to fallen prices, the sales volume developed more favourably than turnover in all sectors of trade apart from motor vehicle trade.

Sales in retail trade declined by 0.1 per cent in January to April

Retail trade sales decreased by 0.1 per cent in January to April from January to April 2015. Sales in wholesale trade fell, in turn, by 3.3 per cent, whereas in motor vehicle trade, sales grew by 8.8 per cent from the year before. Sales in total trade decreased by 0.7 per cent in January to April from January to April 2015.

The reported annual changes in trade sales and sales volumes are not seasonally or trading day adjusted, which means that the effects of public holidays are not considered. In April, the development of sales was partly due to Easter being in March this year, while last year it was in April. The fact that Easter occurs in different months is in particular visible in the sales development of food during March and April. In addition, the development of retail trade in March to April was affected by large sales campaigns being arranged in different months than last year. The opening hours of retail shops were deregulated starting from 1 January 2016 after which some retail shops have extended their opening hours.

Source: Turnover of trade, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Milka Suomalainen 029 551 2912, Seija Karttunen 029 551 2741, palvelut.suhdanne@stat.fi

Director in charge: Mari Ylä-Jarkko

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Year-on-year change in turnover in trade industries, % (TOL 2008) (15.6.2016)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Turnover of motor vehicles, wholesale and retail trade, trend series (TOL 2008) (15.6.2016)

Revisions in these statistics

• Revisions in these statistics (15.6.2016)

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Updated 15.06.2016