Switzerland: Decline in retail sales softens in December
Retail sales dropped 0.8% year on year in calendar-adjusted terms in December (November: -1.5% c.a. yoy). December’s result marked the best reading since June. The reading reflected a broad-based upturn, with activity in the food, beverages, and tobacco, household equipment and culture and recreation goods sub-sectors all improving in December.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail sales fell 0.6% in December (November: +0.3% mom), the worst result since July. Meanwhile, the trend improved slightly, with the annual average variation of retail sales coming in at minus 1.6%, up from November’s minus 1.9%.
Taken together, the retail sales data over Q4 as a whole suggests a muted private spending outturn in the quarter, which would be in line with our panelists’ forecasts.