Statistics Canada : Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey, third quarter 2015

Released: 2016-01-14

Retail sales reached $135.9 billion in the third quarter, up 2.2% from the same quarter of 2014. Higher sales were reported in 8 of the 10 major commodity groups.

Three-quarters of the total increase in retail sales came from a 7.4% gain in motor vehicles, parts and services. The largest contributor to the increase was higher sales of used automotive vehicles (+16.9%), with cars (+18.0%) and light trucks, vans, minivans and sport utility vehicles (+15.9%) contributing equally to the advance. Sales of used automotive vehicles continued to outpace those of new automotive vehicles (+5.3%), which were moderated by lower sales of new cars (-6.1%). New car dealers typically account for about 80% of used car sales.

Sales of food and beverages rose 3.4%. Most of the growth came from food (+2.8%), driven largely by a higher volume of candy, confectionery and snack foods (+8.0%) sold. Sales of fresh fruits and vegetables rose 3.9%, mainly because of higher prices.

Retail sales of clothing, footwear and accessories rose 4.7%. Women's clothing and accessories (+4.1%) was the largest contributor to the gain, led by women's skirts, pants and blouses (+3.3%) and women's accessories (+13.1%). Footwear sales rose 6.1%, largely as a result of an 8.3% gain in non-athletic footwear.

Sales of health and personal care products rose 4.2% year over year. Higher sales of other toiletries and personal care products (+7.8%) and prescription drug sales (+1.4%) accounted for the majority of the growth.

Sales receipts of hardware, lawn and garden products increased 2.6% in the third quarter. Higher sales of plumbing, heating, cooling and electrical equipment and supplies (+9.1%) and hardware (+15.6%) were moderated by lower sales of hand and power tools (-12.1%) and other hardware and building supplies (-18.0%).

Automotive fuels, oils and additives sales fell 11.9% compared with the third quarter of 2014. Losses were largely attributable to price declines in automotive fuels.

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 start of the second quarter of 2015 but took place later in the second quarter of 2014. All percentage changes are year over year.

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