IBGE notes that retail trade is 5.7% higher than pre-pandemic levels

The volume of retail sales in January was 5.7% higher than the level of February 2020 before the pandemic. In expanded retail, which includes vehicle and building materials businesses, sales are running 3.6% above pre-pandemic levels.

The data comes from the Monthly Business Survey and was released on Thursday the 14th by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).

The pharmaceutical, fuel, supermarket, vehicle and construction materials sectors are operating above pre-health crisis levels.

As for the pharmaceutical sector, it is operating at 27.2% above the level before the health crisis. fuels and lubricants, 10.7%; Supermarkets, up 9.9%; Vehicles, up 3.8%; And building materials by 3.0%.

Other personal and household items are 11.0% below February 2020 level; Furniture and appliances, down 12.4%; computer and communications equipment, down 8.8%; Fabrics, clothing and footwear, down 19.3%; Books and stationery, down 46.7%.

“Some activities are still well below pre-pandemic levels,” noted Cristiano Santos, IBGE Research Director.

He explained that in addition to the individual impacts on the worst-performing activities, the negative result also reflects accounting problems in large retail chains, which suffered throughout 2023 with store closures and declining revenues.