ONS RIGHT TO REVISE RETAIL FIGURES

Thursday 22 March 2007

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said today’s official retail sales figures paint a realistic picture of modest growth for February but the retailers’ organisation warned sales growth was driven by heavy discounting, especially in non-food.

The BRC welcomed the Office of National Statistics’ (ONS) upward revision of its January sales figures saying the change had been widely expected.  The original January figures provoked controversy as they were significantly gloomier than other indicators including the BRC’s own Retail Sales Monitor.

The BRC said it had always been confident of the accuracy of its own findings.

British Retail Consortium Analyst Malcolm Pinkerton said: “ONS have got it right this time. Apparently strong month-on-month growth is just a rebound from a sharp fall in January, bringing growth back to its long-term trend. February’s underlying sales growth was modest and driven by discounting, especially on clothing and household goods such as furniture and carpets. Sales are up but many retailers aren’t making much as price cutting puts a severe squeeze on margins.

“The revised January figures present a more realistic and accurate picture of what actually happened. The revision brings the official figures into line with other indicators, including our own Retail Sales Monitor which showed healthier sales growth.

“We were always confident our own figures accurately represented retailers’ experience.”