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TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 1985
COMPARING THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1984 WITH THE SAME QUARTER IN 1983, RETAIL SALES OF CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR AND ALLIED PRODUCTS RECORDED THE LARGEST INCREASES IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS, AT 26 PER CENT AND 13 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY, CONSUMER DURABLES ALSO REGISTERED LARGE INCREASES OF 16 PER CENT IN SALES VALUE AND 12 PER CENT IN SALES VOLUME. RETAIL SALES OF OTHER CONSUMER GOODS ALSO INCREASED, BY 8 PER CENT IN VALUE AND 6 PER CENT IN VOLUME. WHILST THOSE OF FOODSTUFFS, ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND TOBACCO ROSE BY 7 PER CENT IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS. ON THE OTHER HAND, FUELS DECREASED BY 3 PER CENT IN SALES VALUE BUT REMAINED UNCHANGED IN SALES VOLUME.
WHEN COMPARED WITH NOVEMBER 1984, RETAIL SALES OF CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR AND ALLIED PRODUCTS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY, BY 23 PER CENT IN VALUE AND 22 PER CENT IN VOLUME. THOSE OF OTHER CONSUMER GOODS INCREASED BY 12 PER CENT IN SALES VALUE AND 13 PER CENT IN SALES VOLUME. RETAIL SALES OF FOODSTUFFS, ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND TOBACCO INCREASED BY 7 PER CENT IN VALUE AND 6 PER CENT IN VOLUME, WHILST THOSE OF FUELS ROSE BY 2 PER CENT IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS. HOWEVER, RETAIL SALES OF CONSUMER DURABLES RECORDED NO CHANGE IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS.
ANALYSED BY SELECTED TRADES, RETAIL SALES OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND DEPARTMENT STORES INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN DECEMBER 1984 IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS WHEN COMPARED WITH DECEMBER 1983.
SUPERMARKETS ALSO SHOWED LARGE INCREASES, WHILE CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES RECORDED MODERATE INCREASES IN BOTH SALES VALUE AND VOLUME.
COMPARING THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 1984 WITH THE SAME QUARTER IN 1983, RETAIL SALES OF MOTOR VEHICLES ROSE SUBSTANTIALLY IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS. THOSE OF SUPERMARKETS AND DEPARTMENT STORES ALSO SHOWED LARGE INCREASES, WHILST CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES RECORDED MODERATE INCREASES, IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS.
WHEN COMPARED WITH NOVEMBER 1984, RETAIL SALES OF DEPARTMENT STORES ROSE SUBSTANTIALLY IN VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS. SUPERMARKETS ALSO SHOWED LARGE INCREASES IN BOTH SALES VALUE AND VOLUME. CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES, WHICH SHOWED NO CHANGE IN SALES VALUE, RECORDED A SLIGHT INCREASE IN SALES VOLUME. RETAIL SALES OF MOTOR VEHICLES, HOWEVER, RECORDED A SLIGHT DECREASE IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS.
TABLE 1 PRESENTS THE REVISED TOTAL SALES FIGURE FOR NOVEMBER 1984 AND THE PROVISIONAL FIGURE FOR DECEMBER 1984.
TABLE 2 SHOWS THE VALUE AND VOLUME INDEXES OF RETAIL SALES BY MAJOR TRADE GROUPS AND SELECTED TRADES (WHICH FORM PART OF THE RELEVANT MAJOR TRADE GROUPS), WITH AVERAGE MONTHLY RETAIL SALES IN 1980 TAKEN AS 100. COMPARISONS OF DECEMBER 1984 RESULTS WITH THOSE OF NOVEMBER 1984 AND DECEMBER 1983, AND COMPARISONS OF RETAIL SALES IN THE PERIOD OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1984 WITH THOSE IN THE SAME PERIOD OF 1983 ARE ALSO GIVEN.
/(TABLES AND