LISBON: The turnover volume in the Portuguese retail sector rose by 2 percent in 2015, 0.8 percent higher than in 2014, the National Institute of Statistics reported. The report details how in December, retail sales fell back 0.8 percent in annualised terms after having risen by exactly the same amount in November.
The National Institute of Statistics identified how December saw sales particularly influenced by the non-food categories that fell away from a 2.7 percent year-on-year rise in November to a 2.1 percent contraction in December.
This countered a contrary movement in the food sector where November had experienced a fall of 1.7 percent but which surged to a 0.9 percent year-on-year increase in December. In quarterly terms, the report stated the fourth quarter had seen retail sales put on 1.1 percent annually, down from the 1.3 percent rise registered in the third quarter.
The indexes for retail sector employment, remuneration and the number of hours worked, adjusted for the effects of the calendar, rose an annualised 3 percent, 1.3 percent and 2.7 percent in December against 2.3 percent, 5.4 percent and 2.3 percent in November.
The retail sector employment index closed the year up 1.7 percent with employment growth in 2015 contrasting with the 0.2 percent contraction registered in 2014. Meanwhile, the Portuguese industrial production index recorded a 1.6 percent month-on-month increase in December.
The annualised 1.8 percent rise in industrial production saw the Intermediate Goods item do particularly well with a 1.5 percent monthly rise equivalent to a 3.9 percent year-on-year rise, the institute’s report said.
The Energy item was the only one to turn in a negative result, down 0.3 percent on November and 1.8 percent lower than December 2014 with Electricity, Gas, Steam and Hot and Cold Water slipping an annualised 5.4 percent. In turn, the Transformative Industries saw growth jump from 0.2 percent year-on-year in November to 3.8 percent in December.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, the aggregate index slowed to 2.1 percent annualised growth against an expansion of 2.5 percent in the third quarter. In annual terms, the industrial production index advanced 1.8 percent, up from 1.6 percent in 2014, with the major contribution coming from the Energy sector, which grew by 7.6 percent last year against the 1.4 percent rise registered in 2014.
