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Data collected in the Retail Sales Inquiry (RSI) relates to retail turnover for a specified four or five week period. The results are compiled using average weekly sales of the specified standard period. This ensures comparisons can be made between the four and five week standard periods.
The standard reporting periods can change over time due to the movement of the calendar. Every five or six years the standard reporting periods are brought back into line by adding an extra week. For example, January is typically a four-week standard period but January 1986, 1991, 1996, 2002 and 2008 were all five-week standard periods. The non-seasonally adjusted estimates will still contain calendar effects. If the non-seasonally adjusted estimates are used for analysis this can lead to a distortion depending on the timing of the standard reporting period in relation to the calendar, previous reporting periods and how trading activity changes over time.
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Retail Sales Index Development
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Article: Retail Sales Index Development: Implementation (Web link)
Article: Retail Sales Index - A Description of the New Methods (Web link)
This page last updated: Tuesday, 3 November 2009
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