Sweden - Real Retail Sales

For Sweden, the Retail Trade Index (and the Retail Sales Index) is register-based and is designed to measure the monthly sales trend and quarterly wholesale trade in the retail sector and other service industries.

Active:

• Classification: NACE Rev. 2
• Measurements:
  • Fixed-base volume index relative to 2021 (Vol. Index 2021=100)
  • Value index (Index 2021=100)
• Adjustments:
  • Working day adjusted and seasonally adjusted (WDASA)
  • Working day adjusted (WDA)
  • Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
• Native frequency: Monthly
• Start date: Uniformly 1991m1

Predecessors:

• 2015=100 - 1991m1 to 2023m12 ("_15")
• 2015=100, select items - 1991m1 to 2023m9
• 2015=100, select items - 1991m1 to 2018m7
• 2010=100 - 1991m1 to 2017m12 ("_10")
• 2005=100 - 1991m1 to 2012m12 ("_05")
• 2000=100 - 1990m1 to 2007m12 ("00")

Principal aggregates:

• Total retail trade refers to NACE 47 excluding 47.3.
• Trade in consumables (excluding Systembolaget) refers to NACE 47.11 and 47.2. excluding 47.25.
• Trade in durables refers to NACE 47.19 and 47.4–47.9.

Sale of alcoholic beverages in Sweden is via a government-owned monopoly, a chain of stores founded in 1955 called Systembolaget (a compound word, systemet "the system" and bolaget "the company").

NACE Rev. 2 branch 47.25 is "retail sale of beverages in specialized stores," which is more inclusive than alcoholic beverages. Retail sale is distinct from "beverage serving activities [56.3]" under "food and beverage service activities [56]" which encompasses bars, pubs, taverns, and similar.

Data are calculated in constant prices.

The surveys are documented in three different ways to describe the different aspects:

• Quality
• Developement
• Detailed content

The SCB has been analyzing this data since 1963 in order to measure the quarterly and annual net sales developement in retail, wholesale, and other service sectors.  Most statistics are reported in a percent change. It is used as a major input to the national accounts consumption and production calculations. 

"Systembolaget" is a goverment-owned liquor sales monopoly.

Moody's Analytics supplements

For the all-items value index, we construct a seasonally adjusted counterpart.

Possible but uncommon.

The source writes:

When the Retail Trade Index is published for a new month, the indices for previous months are also revised if new information has been added. As from April 2015, a new method is used to calculate the final statistics. The new method mainly involves using administrative data from the Swedish Tax Agency on a quarterly basis to increase the number of companies that are surveyed.  [...] Usually, the material is revised between two and four months backwards, depending on where in the quarter the reference month is located.

Further reading

At the source:

• Turnover in the service sector
• Retail sale by industry NACE Rev. 2, index 2021=100. Month 1991M01 - present

• Sep 2005 - Initial version.
• Feb 2008 - Rebased to 2005.
• Mar 2012 - Addendum of SA supplements.
• Mar 2013 - Rebased to 2010.
• Mar 2018 - Rebased to 2015.
• 1 Dec 2023, Phillip Thorne - Partial termination: Properties.
• 3 Apr 2024, Phillip Thorne - Rebased to 2021: Properties, Methodology, Revisions, Further reading.