Trade turnover grows by 1.7% in February

The working day adjusted turnover of total trade grew by 1.7 per cent in February compared to February 2018,according to Statistics Finland.

The development of turnover was positive in all industries of trade. The working day adjusted sales volume of total trade, from which the impact of price changes has been eliminated, grew by 0.2 per cent in February. The weaker development of sales volume than turnover particularly in wholesale trade and daily consumer goods trade is due to a rise in prices.

The working day adjusted turnover grew in February most in motor vehicle trade, altogether by 2.6 per cent. Sales volume also increased in motor vehicle trade by 3.2 per cent from one year ago. In wholesale trade, the working day adjusted turnover grew by 1.4 per cent, whereas the sales volume of the industry decreased by the same amount. The working day adjusted turnover of retail trade grew by 1.8 per cent and sales volume by 1.6 per cent from February of the previous year.

The seasonally adjusted turnover of total trade went down by 0.2 per cent in February compared to January. The sales volume also decreased by 0.4 per cent over the same period. In January, turnover and sales volume grew slightly by 0.1 per cent compared to the previous month.

The calculation of indices of turnover of trade is based on the Tax Administration’s data on self-assessed taxes, which are supplemented with Statistics Finland’s sales inquiry. The volume index of sales is calculated by removing the effect of price changes from the value index series.

The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well.

The data for the latest month are preliminary and they may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months.