Wholesale trade sales up 6,8%

Seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales increased by 5.4% in January compared with December. This followed month-on-month changes of -4.1% in December and 1.1% last November.

Seasonally adjusted wholesale trade sales increased by 3.0% in the three months ended January 2013 compared with the previous three months.

Measured in nominal terms (current prices)‚ wholesale trade sales increased by 12.4% in January. The major contributors to this increase were:

• Solid‚ liquid and gaseous fuels and related products (23.3% and contributing 5.5 percentage points);
• Machinery‚ equipment and supplies (30.0% and contributing 3.6 percentage points);

• 'Other` household goods except precious stones (19.0% and contributing 2.0 percentage points).

Wholesale trade sales increased by 11.5% in the three months ended January compared with the three months ended January 2012.

The major contributors to this increase were:

• Dealers in solid‚ liquid and gaseous fuels and related products (14.3% and contributing 3.3 percentage points);
• Food‚ beverages and tobacco (15.5% and contributing 2.5 percentage points);
• Agricultural raw materials and livestock (26.7% and contributing 1.5 percentage points);

• Machinery‚ equipment and supplies (11.7% and contributing 1.5 percentage points).