Retail sales nationwide closed 2023 with an average increase of 6.1% compared to a year earlier, which is the largest increase since the beginning of the series, an indicator that in the Canary Islands registered an increase of 7.3%, while employment in the sector grew by 3.3%, according to data released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE)
Corrected for calendar effects, retail sales nationwide rebounded last year by 6% year-on-year and chained 12 months of positive rates. Only in the last December sales grew by 3.4% driven by Christmas, 2.5% below those recorded in November, the month of the 'Black Friday' campaign, and the lowest since February last year.
Employment in retail trade increased by 1.8% year-on-year in 2023, two tenths below that recorded in November, although it accumulated 32 consecutive months in positive rates. By distribution methods, in 2023 large surfaces led the way with an average improvement in sales of 3.9%, followed by large chains (3.3% more), small ones (1.7%) and the minimum advance of companies with a single establishment (0.5%).
Last December, retail sales in the Canary Islands grew by 3.5% year-on-year, while employment in the sector rose by 2.7% compared to December 2022 and 0.5% compared to November 2023.
