According to figures released by the INE on Friday, April sales in retail trade rose by 3.3% compared with a year ago. This is great news for a sector that has been hampered by the pandemic and the rising cost of raw materials and energy from the war in Ukraine. It also means that 2021 will not see the same recovery as 2020.
The data for April also means an 8.8 point increase to the March rate, thereby returning to positive year on year rates after their plunge of 5.5%. This is their largest drop in over a year.
Despite slowing growth, employment performed well in this sector. Two tenths of a percent less than March, April's occupancy rate increased by 2.3% in comparison to 2021. Retail trade employment has seen an increase in year-on-year for the second consecutive year, due mainly to the poor growth of 2021.
The data shows a sectoral evolution that is more serious than it appears. If you take into account the increase in the cost of gasoline (due to the rebound), the April rise is 0.7% less than a year ago. The food sector actually fell 1.5% in terms of sales in April 2021, whereas it was 1.5% by products.
This is due in large part to rising food costs, which have caused consumers to be more careful about their purchases and to only buy what they need. NielsenIQ reports that 73% of food prices increased by more than 5 percent in April. This is especially true for oil, which now costs 75% more than it did a year ago. The average price of a liter oil was 2.34 euros in April 2021, but it is now 4.11 euros. This has resulted in a 32% decrease in demand for the volume of oil sold.
The Spanish Confederation of Commerce, (CEC), claims that the increase in the INE indicator was driven by textile sales. This is logical, considering the data are compared to last year's when the sector experienced serious declines. Sources at the CEC explain that this rise is a result of the dramatic drop in sales suffered by some subsectors due to the pandemic.
Distribution modes have seen decreases in sales at single-location businesses (-1.9%) and large chains (-1.1%) while sales at small chains (7.2%) or large stores (6.1%) have increased.
The monthly evolution (April over February) shows a 5.3% increase, almost ten times lower than the March fall. Obviously, if you eliminate service stations, the rate drops to 4.1% while food products drop to 4.2%.
CEC highlights that personal equipment (textiles and footwear) registers the highest monthly rate increase in April (17.9%). This is due to the increase in dates for social events like communions or marriages.
The situation in the textile industry is extremely complicated. In 2021, sales fell more than during the 2020 pandemic and confinement. Eduardo Zamacola (president of Acotex employers' group) presented the annual report. He said that a complete recovery would not be possible until at least 2023. According to him, the sector has "bottomed out".
