New Fall Purchases in February – E24

Revenue volume in retail fell by 0.3 percent from January to February, seasonally adjusted figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show.

According to Bloomberg, economists expected a rise of 0.7 percent (median of three brokerages).

Last month’s figures fell 0.1 percent.

Groceries and sports knocked down

Grocery stores contributed the most to the drop, but the level of sales volume is still much higher than before the pandemic, writes Statistics Norway.

There was also a drop in the sales volume of sports stores in February, which had a significant increase in the previous month.

DNB’s chief economist Kjersti Haugland was a bit more pessimistic than the consensus, expecting a slight 0.2 percent increase in retail figures in advance.

– Norwegians have spent a lot of money, among other things, on sports equipment and furniture during the crown crisis, but there may also be a limit on how much can be bought from them, Haugland told E24.

Clothing stores did the opposite: the clothing industry contributed positively, after a sharp drop the previous month.

Strong growth in online shopping

Statistics Norway writes that the strong growth in e-commerce that we have seen through the pandemic continued in February, with seasonally adjusted sales volume increasing 7.8 percent from January.

“Calendar-adjusted billing volume for e-commerce has increased by as much as 63 percent from February 2020 to February 2021,” writes Statistics Norway.

In the past 12 months, retail sales have increased 6.1 percent.

The Retail Sales Index will change its name to the Retail Trade Index on April 28.