Retail Sales Annual

Swedish retail trade rose by 3.8 percent year-on-year in November 2017, following an upwardly revised 2.8 percent growth in the previous month and beating market expectations of 3.4 percent. It was the sharpest increase in retail trade since November last year. Retail Sales YoY in Sweden averaged 2.89 percent from 1992 until 2017, reaching an all-time high of 11 percent in May of 2000 and a record low of -7.70 percent in December of 1992.
Higher than expected or rising figures for the retail sales are positive for the economy of Sweden and the Swedish Krona, as they reflect increased consumer spending which leads to higher economic growth measured by the GDP growth rate. The year-over-year change in Retail sales compares the sales of retail goods and services during a certain month to the same month a year ago. On a yearly basis the annual retail sales peaked in year 2007 with a reading of 6.6%, and then again in year 2015 with a figure of 5.8%.
However since 2016 and until 2017 the annual retail sales have declined and were 3.4% and 2.5% for the years 2016 and 2017 respectively, with the year 2017 being an estimate as final December 2017 figure will be released in January 2018. The forecast for the annual retail sales growth for year 2018 is also at 2.5%.