Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey, first quarter 2016
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Released: 2016-07-15
Retail sales totalled $113.6 billion in the first quarter, up 5.4% from the same quarter of 2015. Higher sales were reported in 9 of the 10 major commodity groups.
Sales of motor vehicles, parts and services grew 14.6% in the first quarter, the commodity group's largest gain ever. New automotive vehicle (+14.9%) and used automotive vehicle sales (+18.9%) led the increase in dollar terms. Sales of new trucks, vans, mini-vans, sport utility vehicles and buses (+21.8%) continued to outpace sales of new passenger cars, which were unchanged. Sales of automotive parts and accessories increased 8.1%, led by other automotive parts and accessories (+13.7%).
Sales of food and beverages rose 4.2%. The majority of this gain was attributable to an 11.0% year-over-year increase in sales of candy, confectionary and snack foods, due in large part to an earlier Easter in 2016. Price increases led to higher sales of fresh fruits and vegetables (+5.3%) and fresh meat and poultry (+3.5%).
Retail sales of health and personal care items grew 6.4%. Leading the gains were higher sales of prescription drugs (+8.2%) and personal care, health and beauty products (+4.0%).
Sales of hardware, lawn and garden products grew 9.1%. This reflected higher sales of products typically associated with home building and renovation, such as lumber and other building products (+11.6%), as well as plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical equipment and supplies (+7.0%).
Sales of clothing, footwear and accessories increased 5.9% year over year. Growth in women's clothing and accessories (+5.7%) and men's clothing and accessories (+7.8%) came largely from a higher volume of sales. Footwear sales rose 10.2%.
Automotive fuels, oils and additives posted a sixth consecutive quarterly decline, as sales were down 10.2% compared with the first quarter of 2015. Automotive fuels (-10.5%) accounted for the majority of the decline, the result of lower prices at the pump.
Note to readers
The Retail Commodity Survey collects data on national level retail sales by commodity, from a sub-sample of businesses in the Monthly Retail Trade Survey. Quarterly data have not been adjusted for seasonality. For example, no adjustment has been made for Easter, which occurred at the end of the first quarter of 2016 but took place early in the second quarter of 2015. All percentage changes are year over year.
Data have been revised back to the first quarter of 2015. The revisions take into account the late reporting or correction of respondent information and classification changes. Revised data are now available on CANSIM.
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