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Sales in Large-sized Commercial Units grew by 2.9% in food retail and decreased by 18.8% in non-food retail
Trade Enterprises
Sales in Large-sized Commercial Units grew by 2.9% in food retail and decreased by 18.8% in non-food retail - 2020
16 December 2021

Summary

In 2020, the Distribuitive Trade sector was heavily penalized by the COVID-19 pandemic, recording decreases in the main economic indicators, although slightly less accentuated compared to the non-financial business sector as a whole. That year, the Trade sector had 218.9 thousand enterprises and 803.7 thousand persons employed (-0.6%; +2.1% in 2019). Its Turnover totalled EUR 141.2 billion (-6.5%; +3.3% in 2019) and the Gross Value Added reached EUR 18.7 billion (-5.6%; +4.4% in 2019). The overall commercial margin stood at EUR 25.9 billion, decreasing by 4.5% (+3.6% in 2019).

Automotive trade sector registered the sharpest decrease in turnover (-16.2%; +1.1% in 2019), as well as the largest decrease in the overall commercial margin (-8.9%; +1.4% in 2019) and in the margin per enterprise (-10.1%; -1.2% in 2019). However, persons employed decreased by only 0.3% (+2.6% in 2019).

In Wholesale enterprises, the turnover decreased by 5.8% (+2.8% in 2019), with the overall commercial margin and the margin per enterprise decreasing by 2.8% and 4.9%, respectively (+1.5% and +0.1% in 2019, in the same order). Even so, persons employed increased by 0.5% (+2.6% in 2019). Pharmaceutical products became the most sold product in this activity, having increased its share by 1.2 p.p. to 11.5%, as a result of the 5.7% increase in sales compared to 2019.

Retail trade recorded the smallest reductions in the turnover (-3.6%; +4.8% in 2019), in the overall commercial margin (-5.4%; +6.2% in 2019) and the margin per enterprise (-4.5%; +7.0% in 2019). Persons employed decreased by 1.2% (+2.7% in 2019). However, the evolution was very heterogeneous in this activity, highlighting the 58.8% increase in the turnover of the activity of "Retail trade not in stores, stalls or markets", which includes forms of sale such as online sales, telephone sales, door-to-door sales, among others.

In 2020, sales in Large-sized Commercial Units (UCDR) grew by 2.9% in food retail and decreased by 18.8% in non-food retail. Despite the pandemic context, in 2020 the total number of establishments increased by 1.4% (+1.5% in 2019), with a special focus on the non-food retail segment (+2.1%; +1.7% in 2019). The sale of own brand products in the food retail units represented 38.0% of global sales (35.4% in 2019), corresponding to an annual increase of 10.6%.

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