Sales of food, beverages and tobacco, + 3.1% in the first quarter | Progresiv

In the first three months of this year, food, beverages and tobacco trade reported an increase of 3.1%, depending on the seasonality and number of working days compared to the same period of 2018, and gross sales increased by 3.3%, according to data provided by the National Institute of Statistics.

In March, gross sales of food and beverages remained constant compared to March last year, while sales reported by seasonality and number of working days showed a slight increase of 1.7%, INS data shows.

Compared to February this year, sales in March reported a 10.3% advance as gross series and a decline of 0.8% based on the number of working days and seasonality.

Overall, retail trade, excluding car sales, increased in the first quarter of 2019 by 8.4% in gross series and by 8.5% seasonally adjusted.