Retail trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for January 2009 increased by 1.7% compared with January 2008. This is the first year-on-year increase in nine months. However, retail trade sales, at constant (2000) prices, for the three months ending January 2009 reflected a decrease of 1.0% compared with the three months ending January 2008, while sales for the same period in 2008 decreased by 0.1%.
Retail trade sales, at current prices, for the three months ending January 2009, increased by 11.7% compared with the three months ending January 2008. The major contributors to this increase were general dealers (5.4 percentage points), retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (2.6 percentage points).
Retail trade sales, at current prices, for January 2009 increased by 12.7% compared with January 2008, while sales for the corresponding period in 2008 increased by 11.1%.