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Interpreting retail sales data
An overview of the main data sources and current practices used to produce the monthly Retail Sales Index, including the index construction, deflation and seasonal adjustment methods.
The Retail Sales Index (RSI) is a base-weighted index measuring monthly movements in the average weekly retail turnover of retailers in Great Britain. This article describes the main data sources and current practices used to produce the monthly RSI. As well as an overview of the RSI and the inquiry associated with it, the article discusses index construction, deflation and the seasonal and calendar adjustment applied to produce the headline volume seasonally adjusted series. It is also gives a guide on interpretation of growth rates of the RSI and gives a comparison with other data sources. Additionally it explains the current project to rebase the RSI onto 2000=100 and describes the triennial review of user need from the RSI.
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