Netherlands - Real Retail Sales

Monthly statistics on retail trade published by Statistics Netherlands provide indicators (monthly indices) for the public sector, industrial organizations, businesses and other users of statistics. The indices mainly refer to turnover developments. Price and volume indices are also published for most (sub)categories.

Turnover

The value of the goods and services, sold cash or on account, after deduction of discounts, returns and repaid deposits. Receipts from secondary activities are included in the turnover. In retail trade turnover includes VAT.

Volume

Turnover adjusted for price developments.

Index

An index compares the value of a variable (e.g., turnover) in a certain period with the value of the same variable in the base period. The index of this base period is 100.

SIC

Sectors and branches of industry are frequently used terms for groups of enterprises classified by main activity. Statistics Netherlands uses its Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities 2008 (SIC 2008) to classify enterprises by main activity.

52 Retail trade (including repairs)

This regards the entire retail trade, excluding SIC 5231 pharmacies. Retail trade is defined as: the activity of selling goods produced by others directly to the public for private or household use. Retail trade turnover and repair of consumer goods comprises the turnover of shops (food and non-food), the turnover of mail-order companies, market and street trading and turnover of repair shops.

5210a Retail trade (excl. pharmacies)

Retail trade is defined as: the activity of selling goods produced by others directly to the public for private or household use. Retail trade turnover and repair of consumer goods comprises the turnover of shops (food and non-food), the turnover of mail-order companies, market and street trading and turnover of repair shops. (SIC 521, 522, 5232, 5233, 524, 525, 526)

5210d Shops (excl. pharmacies)

Retail trade is defined as: the activity of selling goods produced by others directly to the public for private or household use. Retail trade turnover in shops only covers the turnover in shops (food and non-food). (SIC 521, 522, 5232, 5233, 524, 525)

5211a Food, beverages and tobacco

Supermarkets, potatoes, vegetables and fruit, butchers, poulterers, fish, bread, pastry, chocolate and confectionary, off-licences, tobacco products, cheese, health food, foreign food, dairy products, eggs, fats, nuts, frozen food, etc. (SIC 5211 and 522)

5212a Non-food

Non-food shops. (SIC 5212, 523 to 525, excl. SIC 5231 chemist's shops)

Because of the vast number of statistical units in retail trade (approximately 80,000, SIC 52), statistics on retail trade are sample surveys. All retail trade enterprises employing 20 or more persons with retail trade as their main activity are surveyed. The remainder (i.e. enterprises employing less than 20 persons) are randomly sampled and assumed to be representative for the entire retail trade population. Only enterprises with retail trade as their main activity are sampled. The total turnover of these enterprises is taken into account.

A raising procedure is used, which involves the computation of the observed and calculated turnover per size class of the units in the sample survey. The result is then divided by the number of units in the sample (n) and multiplied by the population (N) of that particular size class. Subsequently, all raised turnovers of the size classes are added up per SIC.

Figures for the current year are provisional, figures from preceding periods are definite. Once definite figures have been published, the source will only revise the results if significant adjustments and/or corrections are needed.

At the source:

• StatLine » Retail trade; turnover change » [i]