31 January 2024

Retail Trade Indices (RTI)

December 2023 and year 2023. Provisional data

Main results

  • The annual rate of the General Retail Trade Index at constant prices stood at 3.1% in the seasonal and calendar adjusted series.
  • The monthly variation in retail sales at constant prices was -0.7% after seasonal and calendar adjustment.
  • In the whole of 2023, retail sales increased by 6.0% in the corrected series, and 6.1% in the original.
  • Employment in retail trade increased by 1.8% in annual rate.

More information

In December, the General Retail Trade Index at constant prices, once adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, registered a variation of 3.1% as compared with the same month of the previous year. This rate was 1.9 points lower than the one registered in November.

The original RTI series at constant prices registered an annual variation of 3.4%, this rate was 2.5 points below the rate of the previous month.

Retail Trade General Index at constant prices. December 2023
Annual rates. Percentage

In the whole of 2023, retail sales increased by 6.0% in the corrected series, and 6.1% in the original.

Monthly trend of sales in retail trade

The monthly variation of the RTI between the months of December and November, stood at -0.7%. This rate was 1.5 points lower than the previous month.

General Retail Trade Index at constant prices. December 2023
Seasonally and calendar adjusted. Monthly rate. Percentage

All distribution classes showed negative monthly rates. Large chain stores registered the greatest decrease (-1.7%).

The general index, excluding service stations, recorded a monthly rate of -1.2%. By products, Food increased by 0.4% and Non-food products decreased by 1.4%.

Sales indices at constant prices. General and by type of product. December 2023
Seasonally and calendar adjusted. Monthly rate. Percentage

Results by Autonomous Community

Retail sales at constant prices increased in the annual rate in all Autonomous Communities in December. Illes Balears registered the greatest increase (5.6%).

General indices at constant prices: national and by Autonomous City and Community. December 2023
Annual sales rate. Percentage

In the whole of 2023, Illes Balears registered the greatest increase in sales (10.5%).

Employment trend

In December, the employment index in the retail trade sector registered a variation of 1.8% as compared to the same month of 2022. This rate was two tenths below that recorded in November.

Employment indices: General and by distribution type. December 2023

On an annual average, employment registered an increase of 1.8% in 2023.

Revisions and update of data

On the press release day, INE has updated RTI data series corresponding to the last three months. In the case of calendar adjusted and seasonally and calendar adjusted series, according to INE standard, series are revised since its beginning. Results are available on INEbase.

Base change

The INE publishes today the latest data on the Retail Trade Index based on 2015. The new 2021 base will incorporate relevant changes, among which the updating of the weights and the sample stand out, as well as the implementation of the dissemination of results by economic activity according to the CNAE-2009.

Methodological note

The main objective of the Retail Trade Indices (RTI) is to ascertain the fundamental characteristics of the companies engaged in retail trade in Spain, which make it possible to measure, in the short term, the trend of activity in the sector.

Survey type:
continuous monthly survey.
Base year:
2015
Population scope:
companies whose main activity is included within division 47 of the CNAE-2009 Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles.
Geographical scope:
the whole country.
Sample size:
Approximately 12.000 companies.
Type of sampling:
stratified random sampling.
Collection method:
internet (IRIA system), e-mail, fax, telephone or by post.

Further information is available in the methodology and in the standardised methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.

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