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Retail sales in current dollars rose 0.4% in December to $35.3 billion, mostly offsetting the decline in November. Sales in volume terms increased 0.6% in December. Retail sales volumes have been following an upward trend since the beginning of 2009.
Sales increased in five of eight retail store sectors in December. November's unseasonably warm weather caused some consumers to postpone purchases of clothing and footwear until December.
The largest contributor to the overall increase was a 3.3% rise in sales at general merchandisers, which include department stores. This increase offset the decline observed in November.
Clothing and accessories stores saw their sales increase 2.1% in December. Within the sector, sales rose 5.2% at shoe, clothing accessories and jewellery stores and 1.2% at clothing stores.
Sales in the automotive sector rose 0.9% in December. Gasoline stations (+2.2%) registered higher sales for a fifth consecutive month. Used and recreational motor vehicles and parts dealers (+1.7%) had higher sales for the eighth month in a row. Sales at new car dealers edged down 0.2%, the second decline in sales after six months of increases.
Sales at furniture, home furnishings and electronic stores (+0.5%) have been trending upward since May 2009. The largest contributor to December's increase was a 1.8% gain at furniture stores.
Lower sales at food and beverage stores (-1.3%) dampened retail sales in December. Sales at supermarkets were down 1.5%, more than offsetting the increase observed in November. Sales at beer, wine and liquor stores (-1.4%) were down for a third consecutive month following strong growth in the first nine months of the year.
Sales up in six provinces
Retail sales rose in six provinces in December. The largest contributor to the increase was Alberta where sales rose 1.8%, its strongest gain since November 2007.
Retailers in Quebec reported a 0.7% sales increase after two months of little change. This resumes an upward trend observed since the beginning of 2009.
Note to readers
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise specified.
At the end of each calendar year, seasonally adjusted monthly figures are revised to equal the sum of the unadjusted estimates. Revised seasonally adjusted figures are presented this month for September to November 2009. The complete revision of seasonally adjusted data for the 2009 calendar year will be released in April 2010.
Total retail sales by volume are measured by deflating values in current dollars of the various trade groups using consumer price indexes. This retail sales in chained dollars series (2002) is a chain Fisher volume index with 2002 as the reference year.
New Brunswick (+2.0%) was the only Atlantic province to report a sales increase in December. This increase almost offset the declines of the previous two months.
Table 1
| December 2008 | September 2009r | October 2009r | November 2009r | December 2009p | November to December 2009 | December 2008 to December 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||||
| Automotive | 10,007 | 11,188 | 11,574 | 11,568 | 11,670 | 0.9 | 16.6 |
| New car dealers | 5,039 | 5,909 | 6,140 | 6,006 | 5,994 | -0.2 | 19.0 |
| Used and recreational motor vehicle and parts dealers | 1,567 | 1,572 | 1,605 | 1,616 | 1,644 | 1.7 | 4.9 |
| Gasoline stations | 3,401 | 3,706 | 3,829 | 3,945 | 4,031 | 2.2 | 18.5 |
| Furniture, home furnishings and electronics stores | 2,439 | 2,420 | 2,430 | 2,444 | 2,456 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Furniture stores | 796 | 806 | 810 | 812 | 826 | 1.8 | 3.8 |
| Home furnishings stores | 452 | 483 | 490 | 489 | 478 | -2.4 | 5.6 |
| Computer and software stores | 101 | 104 | 104 | 107 | 108 | 1.1 | 6.4 |
| Home electronics and appliance stores | 1,090 | 1,028 | 1,027 | 1,037 | 1,045 | 0.8 | -4.1 |
| Building and outdoor home supplies stores | 2,138 | 2,241 | 2,266 | 2,302 | 2,274 | -1.2 | 6.4 |
| Home centres and hardware stores | 1,725 | 1,830 | 1,862 | 1,864 | 1,856 | -0.5 | 7.6 |
| Specialized building materials and garden stores | 413 | 411 | 405 | 438 | 419 | -4.4 | 1.4 |
| Food and beverage stores | 8,091 | 8,342 | 8,224 | 8,243 | 8,133 | -1.3 | 0.5 |
| Supermarkets | 5,861 | 5,983 | 5,908 | 5,968 | 5,880 | -1.5 | 0.3 |
| Convenience and specialty food stores | 842 | 839 | 845 | 852 | 850 | -0.2 | 1.0 |
| Beer, wine and liquor stores | 1,389 | 1,520 | 1,471 | 1,423 | 1,403 | -1.4 | 1.1 |
| Pharmacies and personal care stores | 2,405 | 2,562 | 2,553 | 2,538 | 2,505 | -1.3 | 4.2 |
| Clothing and accessories stores | 1,912 | 1,938 | 1,974 | 1,899 | 1,939 | 2.1 | 1.4 |
| Clothing stores | 1,465 | 1,482 | 1,508 | 1,469 | 1,487 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Shoe, clothing accessories and jewellery stores | 447 | 455 | 466 | 430 | 452 | 5.2 | 1.1 |
| General merchandise stores | 4,316 | 4,432 | 4,445 | 4,306 | 4,448 | 3.3 | 3.1 |
| Miscellaneous retailers | 1,774 | 1,877 | 1,876 | 1,866 | 1,874 | 0.4 | 5.6 |
| Sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores | 894 | 952 | 934 | 894 | 908 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Miscellaneous store retailers | 880 | 926 | 941 | 972 | 965 | -0.6 | 9.7 |
| Total retail sales | 33,081 | 35,001 | 35,342 | 35,167 | 35,299 | 0.4 | 6.7 |
| Total excluding automotive sector | 23,075 | 23,813 | 23,768 | 23,599 | 23,629 | 0.1 | 2.4 |
| Total excluding new car dealers, used and recreational motor vehicle and parts dealers | 26,475 | 27,519 | 27,597 | 27,544 | 27,660 | 0.4 | 4.5 |
| Provinces and territories | |||||||
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 569 | 621 | 632 | 622 | 614 | -1.2 | 8.0 |
| Prince Edward Island | 138 | 148 | 145 | 148 | 148 | 0.0 | 7.1 |
| Nova Scotia | 957 | 1,039 | 1,049 | 1,060 | 1,053 | -0.7 | 10.1 |
| New Brunswick | 792 | 860 | 849 | 840 | 857 | 2.0 | 8.2 |
| Quebec | 7,629 | 8,089 | 8,091 | 8,059 | 8,114 | 0.7 | 6.3 |
| Ontario | 11,570 | 12,462 | 12,646 | 12,564 | 12,542 | -0.2 | 8.4 |
| Manitoba | 1,208 | 1,260 | 1,278 | 1,276 | 1,280 | 0.3 | 6.0 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,128 | 1,174 | 1,190 | 1,177 | 1,187 | 0.9 | 5.2 |
| Alberta | 4,708 | 4,650 | 4,681 | 4,661 | 4,742 | 1.8 | 0.7 |
| British Columbia | 4,261 | 4,566 | 4,647 | 4,626 | 4,630 | 0.1 | 8.7 |
| Yukon | 41 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 45 | -1.7 | 11.8 |
| Northwest Territories | 56 | 61 | 62 | 60 | 58 | -3.6 | 4.3 |
| Nunavut | 26 | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 0.7 | 8.2 |
It is possible to consult the tables of raw data by industry and by province and territory from the Tables by subject module of our website.
For information on related indicators, refer to the Latest statistics page on our website.
Available on CANSIM: tables 080-0014 to 080-0017.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 2406 and 2408.
The December 2009 issue of the publication Retail Trade (63-005-X, free) will be available shortly.
Data on retail trade for January will be released on March 19.
For more information, or to order data, contact Client Services (613-951-3549; toll-free 1-877-421-3067; retailinfo@statcan.gc.ca). For analytical information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Mark Switzer (613-951-7137), Distributive Trades Division.
