The retail sector in the Netherlands saw a notable increase in sales in December as per the data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The retail turnover, accommodating for shopping days, saw a year-on-year growth of 4.2% in December, following a 3.2% rise in November. The sales uptick has been consistent since March 2021.
The year-on-year sales growth rate for non-food items accelerated to 2.6% in December, up from 1.2% in the previous month. However, sales of non-food items recorded a marginally slower growth at 4.6%, slightly down from 4.8% in November.
In contrast, year-on-year online retail sales fell by 1.2% compared to the previous year.
On a non-adjusted basis, retail turnover advanced by 1.9% year on year in December.
Looking at the entire year of 2023, retail sales exhibited a near 6.0% growth compared to the preceding year 2022.
