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 October to December 2015, show that the volume of Retail Sales in Scotland increased by 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015 and grew by 2.2 per cent annually.

The value of Retail Sales, without adjusting for inflation, contracted by 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2015 and contracted by 0.9 per cent annually.

Notes To Editors

The full statistical publication is available athttp://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Economy/PubRSI/RSIS2015Q4

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