Swiss retail sales growth accelerated in July

According to the report from Federal Statistical Office (FSO), turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 3.4% in nominal terms in July 2020 compared with the previous year. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 0.7% compared with the previous month. 

Real turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 4.1% in July 2020 compared with the previous year. Real growth takes inflation into consideration. Compared with the previous month, real, seasonally adjusted retail trade turnover registered an increase of 0.7%.

Adjusted for sales days and holidays, the retail sector excluding service stations showed a 5.0% increase in nominal turnover in July 2020 compared with July 2019 (in real terms +5.6%). Turnover at service stations continued its decline at –15.9% in nominal terms (–1.9% in real terms).

Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered an increase in nominal turnover of 8.8% (in real terms +7.9%), whereas the non-food sector registered a nominal plus of 1.4% (in real terms +3.0%). The sectors “other household equipment, textiles, DIY and furniture” (+16.2%: +17.1% in real terms) and “market stalls, retail sale via mail order houses or via internet” (+13.7%; in real terms +14.5%) saw the largest gains. In contrast, the sectors “Cultural and recreation goods in specialised stores” (–8.8%; in real terms –9.9%) and “others goods (clothing, chemists, watches and jewellery)” (–15%; in real terms –0.7%) continued to show negative figures.

Excluding service stations, the retail sector showed a seasonally adjusted increase in nominal turnover of 0.8% compared with the previous month (in real terms +0.8%). Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered a plus of 0.7% (in real terms +1.2%). The non-food sector showed a plus of 0.3% (in real terms +0.2%).