March real wholesale sales up 5.3% y/y

Wholesale trade sales climbed by 11.3% y/y in nominal terms in March 2012 after a 21.9% y/y rise in February 2012, a 19.2% y/y gain in January and a 13.6% increase in 2011.

Measured in real terms (constant 2000 prices), seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales fell by 5.0% in March compared with February. This followed month-on-month changes of 3.8% in February 2012 and 2.7% in January 2012.

Measured in nominal terms (current prices), wholesale trade sales increased by 17.1% in the first quarter of 2012 compared with the first quarter of 2011.

The three major contributors to this increase were dealers in: solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and related products (29.1% and contributing 6.5 percentage points); machinery, equipment and supplies (19.8% and contributing 3.0 percentage points); and other household goods except precious stones (19.9% and contributing 2.0 percentage points).