Retail sales have grown 6.7% so far this year compared to 2022

The acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, has stated that “the growth of retail trade and the good performance of employment are indicative of the strength of our local productive fabric.”

According to the Institute of National Statistics (INE)’s Retail Trade Indices (ICM), in September 2023 sales at constant retail prices registered an annual variation rate of 6% in the original series and 6.5% in the corrected series of seasonal and calendar effects. With this data, retail sales have already increased for ten months.

Sales increased year-on-year in September 2023 in all autonomous communities. Specifically, those that register the best performance are the Valencian Community (9.1%) and the Balearic Islands (8.8%). Average sales at constant prices in the first nine months of the year also increased by 6.7% year-on-year.

For the acting Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Héctor Gómez, “the growth of retail trade and the good performance of employment are indicative of the strength of our local productive fabric. The confidence of merchants and consumers improves in a fundamental sector for thousands of small businesses and workers. The head of the Ministry also highlights the relevance of this sector in employment, “representing a good percentage of the total economy and highlighting the role of women in the growth of the sector and of Spain.”

According to the ICM (INE) Employment Indices, employment in retail trade registered an annual variation rate of 1.8% in September 2023, the same value as the previous month. By distribution mode, employment increased year-on-year in single-location companies (0.7%), in small chains (3.5%), large chains (3.5%) and large stores (0.2%). On average so far this year until September 2023, it grew by 1.8% year-on-year at the national level.

The number of average affiliates of Social Security (Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration) in retail trade reached 1,914,497 in October 2023, a historical maximum for the month, 21,668 more affiliates than in the same month of the previous year (1,1% year-on-year).

According to the Active Population Survey (INE), in the third quarter of 2023 retail trade reached 1,992,500, 152,100 more employees than in the same quarter of the previous year (8.3% year-on-year). This represents 9.4% of the total number of employed people in Spain. Furthermore, 62.9% of those employed in the sector are women, compared to 46.5% for the economy as a whole.

According to the State Public Employment Service (SEPE), registered unemployment in retail trade decreased by 5.6% in October 2023 compared to the same month of the previous year to 261,507 unemployed (15,588 fewer unemployed). In the commerce sector as a whole registered unemployment fell by 6.1% year-on-year, while it fell by 5.3% in the economy as a whole.

The retail trade confidence indicator prepared by the European Commission in Spain in October 2023 improves by 1.4 points compared to the previous month to stand at 3.6 points. This indicator improves 5.4 points compared to the same month of the previous year (-1.8 points in October 2022). Spain’s indicator is higher than those corresponding to the EU27, the euro zone, as well as those of the main European economies.

According to the consumer confidence indicator, which is also prepared monthly by the European Commission, in Spain it improves by 0.6 points in October 2023 compared to the previous month, reaching -19.7 points. In turn, this value improves 11.2 points compared to the same month of the previous year (-30.9 points).

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