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Retail sales reached $125.4 billion in the third quarter, up 3.5% from the third quarter of 2012. Higher sales were reported in 9 of the 10 major commodity groups.
About half of the overall increase in retail sales came from an 8.6% sales gain for motor vehicles, parts and services. Higher sales of new automotive vehicles (+9.0%) led the advance. This marked the third consecutive quarter that the value of sales of new trucks, vans, mini-vans, sports utility vehicles and buses (+11.1%) outpaced that of new cars (+5.6%). Used automotive vehicle sales rose 10.1% while automotive parts and accessories increased 5.5%.
Automotive fuels, oils and additives sales were up 2.8% in the third quarter compared with the third quarter of 2012. This major commodity group has mostly been posting single-digit gains since the beginning of 2012, following two years of double-digit growth.
Retail sales of clothing, footwear and accessories rose 3.6%. Women's clothing and accessories (+4.5%) and men's clothing and accessories (+4.8%) each posted their highest gain in over a year. Most of this growth came from a higher volume of sales. Footwear sales rose 5.1%, led by a 6.2% increase in non-athletic footwear. Clothing and clothing accessories stores saw their share of sales for clothing, footwear and accessories rise from 67.1% in the third quarter of 2012 to 68.0% in the third quarter of 2013, mainly at the expense of general merchandisers.
Sales receipts of food and beverages increased 1.0%. Most of the growth came from food, which rose 1.2%. The largest contributors to this advance were fresh fruits and vegetables (+4.3%) and candy, confectionery and snack foods (+7.2%).
Sales of health and personal care products rose 2.3% year over year. Prescription drugs sales (+2.2%) increased for the second consecutive quarter.
Sales of furniture, home furnishings and electronics (-0.1%) declined for the sixth consecutive quarter, led by a decline in home electronics, computers and cameras (-4.0%). Partially offsetting these declines was the largest sales gain for household appliances (+6.2%) since the fourth quarter of 2009.
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. All percentage changes are year over year.
Available in CANSIM: table CANSIM table080-0022.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number survey number2008.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; mediahotline@statcan.gc.ca).
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