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THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1985
WHEN COMPARED WITH JANUARY THIS YEAR, RETAIL SALES OF FOODSTUFFS, ALCOHOLIC DRINKS AND TOBACCO INCREASED BY 12 PER CENT IN VALUE AND NINE PER CENT IN VOLUME, WHILST THOSE OF CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR AND ALLIED PRODUCTS ROSE BY THREE PER CENT IN VALUE AND SIX PER CENT IN VOLUME.
ON THE OTHER HAND, RETAIL SALES OF FUELS FELL BY 11 PER CENT, CONSUMER DURABLES BY NINE PER CENT, AND OTHER CONSUMER GOODS+ BY THREE PER CENT IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS.
ANALYSED BY SELECTED TRADES, RETAIL SALES OF DEPARTMENT STORES, MOTOR VEHICLES AND SUPERMARKETS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS WHEN COMPARED WITH FEBRUARY 1984. CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES ALSO SHOWED LARGE INCREASES.
COMPARING THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1984 TO FEBRUARY 1985 WITH THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR AGO, RETAIL SALES OF MOTOR VEHICLES ROSE SIGNIFICANTLY IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS, WHILST DEPARTMENT STORES, SUPERMARKETS AND CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES RECORDED MODERATE INCREASES.
WHEN COMPARED WITH JANUARY THIS YEAR, RETAIL SALES OF SUPERMARKETS ROSE SUBSTANTIALLY IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS. HOWEVER, THOSE OF MOTOR VEHICLES, CONSUMER DURABLES OTHER THAN MOTOR VEHICLES AND DEPARTMENT STORES RECORDED DECREASES IN BOTH VALUE AND VOLUME TERMS.
TABLE 1 PRESENTS THE REVISED TOTAL SALES FIGURE FOR JANUARY 1985 AND THE PROVISIONAL FIGURE FOR FEBRUARY 1985.
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 FEBRUARY 1985 RESULTS WITH THOSE OF JANUARY 1985 AND FEBRUARY 1984 AND COMPARISONS OF RETAIL SALES IN THE PERIOD DECEMBER 1984 TO FEBRUARY 1985 WITH THOSE IN THE SAME PERIOD A YEAR AGO ARE ALSO GIVEN.
GRAPHS 1 AND 2 DEPICT THE INDEX MOVEMENTS OF TOTAL RETAIL SALES FROM JANUARY 1983 TO JANUARY 1985.
THE REPORT CONTAINING THE ANALYSIS OF THE FEBRUARY 1985 SURVEY RESULTS IS NOW ON SALE AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GENERAL POST OFFICE, CONNAUGHT PLACE, AT $1.00 PER COPY.
ENQUIRIES ABOUT THE SURVEY RESULTS MAY BE DIRECTED TO THE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL TRADE STATISTICS SECTION OF THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT. (TEL. NO. 3-7216024).
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