This is the unedited press release from Statistisches Bundesamt Deutschland


WIESBADEN – According to provisional results of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), turnover in retail trade in Germany was in nominal terms 2.7% and in real terms 0.6% larger in January 2008 than in the previous year.

When adjusted for calendar and seasonal variations, the January turnover was in nominal terms 1.9% and in real terms 1.6% larger than that of the preceding month.

Changes to be implemented from reference month January 2008

The basis of the survey is a representative sample of all retail enterprises. Since reference month January 2007, start-up enterprises have been covered by an annual, representative survey of new enterprises. From reference month January 2008, the following measures will be implemented to enhance the quality of the monthly retail trade statistics:

The current sample of new enterprises is based on the total of retail enterprises which were newly established in 2005. The sample includes 1,684 enterprises, which is about 6% of the size of the current retail trade sample. Data on the start-up enterprises’ turnover and number of persons employed are included in the results back to January 2007 in order to allow year-on-year comparisons from reference month January 2008.

With immediate effect, chained index numbers are published (retroactively as of January 2006) to ensure that previous results remain comparable despite the introduction of the sample of new enterprises. In this context, chaining means that the level of the 2008 index number series is adjusted to the level of the previous index number series by applying a constant factor. Current short-term economic trends are preserved, and time series can be analysed in a better way.

In addition, a component of the previous procedure used to estimate the data for enterprises which have not submitted information is replaced by a more efficient method to consider more effectively branch-specific, regional, and seasonal and calendar effects on short-term economic development.

And finally, new software has been designed to calculate more precise index numbers. Tests have shown that, as a result of applying the new software, the index numbers can vary by up to 0.1 percentage points at a lower level of economic activity.


Available at:

http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/portal/cms/Sites/destatis/Internet/EN/press/pr/2008/02/PE08__086__45241,templateId=renderPrint.psml