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Published: 15 February 2021

Turnover in trade decreased by 1.9 per cent in December

According to Statistics Finland, turnover in total trade adjusted for working days fell in December by 1.9 per cent from December 2019. In total trade, the working day adjusted volume of sales, from which the impact of prices has been eliminated, decreased by 0.5 per cent over the same period. In last year's November, turnover went up by 1.8 per cent, while sales volume rose by 3.4 per cent.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and sales volume in total trade (G), %

Working day adjusted turnover in retail trade has developed positively since May of last year due to strong growth in daily consumer goods and department store trade. The positive growth continued also in December as working day adjusted turnover rose by 2.0 per cent and working day adjusted sales volume by 2.8 per cent from the previous year's December. The growth in daily consumer goods trade has been quite rapid since March 2020. In December, working day adjusted turnover in daily consumer goods trade continued to grow strongly by 5.3 per cent from December 2019. Working day adjusted turnover in department store trade was 2.2 per cent up year-on-year in December. In specialised store trade, the positive development of working day adjusted turnover turned to a decline of 1.1 per cent, while working day adjusted sales volume grew by 1.1 per cent.

The working day adjusted turnover of the biggest trade industry in terms of turnover, that is, wholesale trade, has decreased throughout 2020 and in December it fell by 4.9 per cent. Sales volume adjusted for working days in wholesale trade decreased by 2.3 per cent. Working day adjusted turnover in motor vehicle trade grew slightly by 0.2 per cent year-on-year, while at the same time working day adjusted sales volume decreased by 0.9 per cent.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and sales volume in industries of trade, December 2020, % (TOL 2008)

Turnover and sales volume declined from the previous month

Seasonally adjusted turnover in total trade fell by 2.1 per cent in December from November. Over the same period, the volume of sales fell by 2.1 per cent. In November, in turn, turnover and sales volume increased by more than one per cent compared to the month before.

Change in seasonally adjusted turnover and sales volume in total trade (G) from the previous month, %

During January to December, turnover in total trade adjusted for working days decreased by 1.0 per cent and sales volume grew by 0.6 per cent from the corresponding period in 2019.

Trend of turnover and sales volume in total trade

The calculation of indices of turnover of trade is based on the Tax Administration’s data on self-assessed taxes, which are supplemented with Statistics Finland’s sales inquiry. The volume index of sales is calculated by removing the effect of price changes from the value index series.

The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well.

The data for the latest month are preliminary and they may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months.

Industries of enterprises have been revised in the data released in February

Starting from the statistical release published in February 2021, the latest industries defined by the Business Register have been taken into use in the turnover and wage and salary indices. The industry corrections are visible as revised data in some of the published industries for the years 2019–2020. The effects of the changes are taken into consideration in statistics production so that no breaks occur in the time series of the published index series. The interpretation of the statistics also remains unchanged in the renewal. Revisions to annual changes in industries are presented under Revisions in these statistics.

Source: Turnover of trade, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Suvi Kiema 029 551 3509, Mauri Niiniaho 029 551 3409, palvelut.suhdanne@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Katri Kaaja

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Annual change of working day adjusted turnover and sales volume in industries of trade, % (TOL 2008) (15.2.2021)

Revisions in these statistics

• Revisions in these statistics (15.2.2021)

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Updated 15.02.2021