Puerto Rico retail sales up 18.3% Y-O-Y to slightly more than $3B
Puerto Rico retail sales were slightly more than $3 billion in November 2011, up 18.3% over the same month in 2020, when $2.6 billion were reported.
In its latest retail sales report, the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC, in Spanish) confirmed that the jump is the eighteenth recorded increase in sales at an annual rate, all consecutively, and the “strongest growth” for a month of November since 2011.
“For November 2021, consumers showed positive behavior, motivated in part by the proximity of the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations,” DDEC Secretary Manuel Cidre said.
“This need to return to normality, together with the massive vaccination campaign, were key elements to promote greater economic activity during that period. We trust that pattern will continue to repeat itself throughout 2022,” he said.
The groups with the highest reported increases were: Specialty food stores (+58.7%); Fuel distributors (+55.1%); Clothing stores (+44.2%); and Auto parts stores (+43.9%). Restaurants and places selling alcoholic beverages increased by 19.3% in November 2021.
On the other hand, garden and lawn equipment stores were the only ones to experience a reduction in sales of -3.3%.
The accumulated value of Retail Sales during the first 11 months of the calendar year 2021 (January-November), shows an increase of 23.1%, compared to the same period of the previous calendar year of 2020.
During that period in 2021, sales reached $33.5 billion versus $27.2 billion in 2020.
“Compared to the reports of the year 2020, where events such as earthquakes and the pandemic affected economic activity, this accumulated value reports extraordinary increases in all economic sectors,” the report confirmed.
