HELSINKI: The sales in retail trade went up by 2.3 per cent year-on-year in February 2016, according to Statistics Finland’s retail trade flash estimate. Over the same period, the volume of retail trade sales, from which the impact of prices has been eliminated, grew by 3.9 per cent.
In daily consumer goods trade, sales also grew by 2.9 per cent and the sales volume by 4.1 per cent in February from the corresponding period of the previous year, the data show.
The turnover developed weaker than sales volume both in retail trade and in daily consumer goods trade due to fallen prices. Annual changes in trade sales and sales volumes are given unadjusted for seasonal variation. The opening hours of retail shops were deregulated starting from 1 January 2016, after which some retail shops have extended their opening hours.
Daily consumer goods accounted for 48.9 per cent of turnover in retail trade in 2014, according to the Structural business and financial statement statistics. The retail trade flash estimate is based on a sample covering, on the average, 60 per cent of retail trade turnover.