BANQUE DE FRANCE – Monthly Business Survey published on 19 October 2021 1

19 October 2021

Strong increases in retail trade in both September and 3rd quarter

Note: The trend in retail sales does not reflect that of total household consumption: the latter includes other items

such as health care, education and rents.

In September, turnover in retail trade rose by 2.8% compared with the previous month after a -3.6 %

downturn in August (in volume, adjusted for seasonal and working-day variations). It stood close to its pre-

crisis level. The improvement was observed in September for both food sales and manufactured goods,

which firmed by 2.3% and 3.0% respectively. Sales increased over the 3rd quarter, by +3.2 % compared

with the previous one. Whereas food sales were stable (-0,4 %), sales of manufactured goods increased

sharply (+9,0 %).

The best performing sectors were press and stationery (15.2%), furniture (9.2%) and perfumes and toilet

preparations (4.8%). Only sales of automotive equipment were down this month (-1.2%).

In terms of distribution channels, sales of small retailers were stable, ticking down by 0.2% while those of large general retailers rose by 3.1%. Final data for distance selling are not yet available for September (they were down in August by -2.2%, after -3.1 % in July).

Bicycles and motorcycles

Games and toys

Books

Sports equipment

Watches, clocks and jewellery

Press and stationeryOptical equipment

Footwear

Automobile equipment

Household appliances

Pharmaceuticals

Furniture

Perfumes and hygiene products

Consumer electronics

New automobiles

DIY

Textiles and clothing

o/w

Manufactured goods

Food products

Total

-21% -20% -19% -18% -17% -16% -15% -14% -13% -12% -11% -10% -9% -8% -7% -6% -5% -4% -3% -2% -1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12% 13% 14% 15% 16%

0,9%

1,0%

1,1%

1,5%

1,6%

1,6%

2,1%

2,3%

2,7%

3,0%

3,5%

3,7%

4,5%

4,5%

6,2%

6,6%

10,2%

-

57,1%

42,9%

Weight

Sep 2021 Aug 2021

Total manufactured goods and food sales: M/M-1 change (%)September and August 2021 m-o-m comparison; seasonally and working-day adjusted volume terms

Notes : - Sectors are classified according to the relative weight of the products included in the total aggregate of retail trade (see methodology)- The aggregated and by sub-sector series are seasonally adjusted on an individual basis: the seasonally adjusted series do not represent

the sum of the seasonally adjusted components.

Turnover in retail trade

at the end of September 2021

BANQUE DE FRANCE – Monthly Business Survey published on 19 October 2021 2

Period under review: September 2021

Department stores

Supermarkets

Hypermarkets

o/w

Large general retailers

Small retail stores

-5% -4% -3% -2% -1% 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%

Sep 2021 Aug 2021

Retail trade by certain outlet category: M/M-1 change (%)

September and August 2021 m-o-m comparison; seasonally and working-day adjusted

volume terms.Large general retailers Weight

Hypermarkets 50%

Supermarkets 33%

Distance sales

11%

Department stores

6%

Total manufactured goods and food index in seasonally-adjusted volume terms (100 = 2010)

Distance sales

Source: Fevad and Banque de France index in seasonally-adjusted volume terms (100 = 2010)

60

65

70

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

Sep-16 Sep-17 Sep-18 Sep-19 Sep-20 Sep-21

Total manufactured goods and food

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

240

Sep-16 Sep-17 Sep-18 Sep-19 Sep-20 Sep-21

distance sales

Provisional data as of the 7th working day following the month under review.

Notes:

- The Fevad and the Banque de France work together to publish the e-commerce figures for France (excluding food). Theactual figure for September will be published as soon as it is available.

- The aggregated and by sub-sector series are seasonally adjusted on an individual basis: the seasonally adjusted series do not represent the sum of the seasonally adjusted components.

- Sectors are classified according to the relative weight of the distribution methods included in the aggregates for small retailstores and large general retailers (see methodology)

- However, the “large general retailer” aggregate is not a sub-aggregate of the “total manufactured and food product” index.Rather, it is an independent index that covers the overall turnover of hypermarkets, supermarkets, department stores anddistance selling. It does not include national chains.

For further details, see sectoral level information, methodology, publications calendar and contacts

Find the series on the website of the Bank of France in Webstat Banque de France database.

Subscription to Business surveys can be requested to www.banque-france.fr