Retail sales in Spain increased 1.7 percent year-on-year in March 2019, following an upwardly revised 1.4 percent gain in the previous month and beating market expectations of a 0.8 percent rise. It was the biggest increase in retail trade in five months, as sales went up further for food (1.6 percent compared to 1.3 percent in February) and personal equipment (2.0 percent compared to 1.4 percent). Meanwhile, sales of household equipment eased (0.9 percent compared to 2.2 percent) and of other goods rose at the same pace (1.6 percent, the same as in February). On a monthly basis, retail sales advanced 0.4 percent, the unchanged from the previous month. Retail Sales YoY in Spain averaged -0.02 percent from 2001 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 6.80 percent in December of 2003 and a record low of -11.40 percent in September of 2012.
Retail Sales YoY in Spain is expected to be 2.70 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Retail Sales YoY in Spain to stand at 2.40 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Spain Retail Sales YoY is projected to trend around 2.20 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.