WIREDGOV

A National Statistics Publication for Scotland.

Statistics announced today by Scotland’s Chief Statistician in the latest Retail Sales Index for Scotland release, covering the period January to March 2015, show that the volume of Retail Sales in Scotland increased by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2015 and grew by 2.2% annually.

The value of Retail Sales, without adjusting for inflation, decreased by 0.9% in the first quarter of 2015 and decreased by 0.2% annually.

The figures released today were produced by independent statistical staff, in accordance with professional standards set out in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Notes To Editors

The full statistical publication is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/PubRSI/RSIS2015Q1 

The Retail Sales Index (RSI) is a measure of the total turnover at basic prices of businesses registered as retailers according to the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC), an internationally agreed convention for classifying industries.

Annual growth rates have been calculated by comparing the latest quarter with the same quarter of the previous year. The Retail Sales Index presents seasonally adjusted data. These statistics are a component of the Scottish Quarterly GDP Publication, accounting for approximately 5.5% of the Scottish economy.

Further information on Scottish economic statistics can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/

Official statistics are produced by professionally independent statistical staff – more information on the standards of official statistics in Scotland can be accessed at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/About