Tourist spending in retail trade during the first quarter was 173.3 million euros, 32% more than the previous year.
Although sales in the fifth month of the year evolve downwards, it is the second best May of the available series, only behind 2023.
The number of Social Security affiliates in the commerce sector reached a record high last May in all the islands. In total, 58,988 people were registered, 2.8% more than a year ago (of these, 46,918 were in Mallorca, 4,056 in Menorca, 7,011 in Eivissa and 701 in Formentera). Among the various reasons for this increase are the positive outlook for the coming months.
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Enrolment in the commerce sector was 58,988 in May, a record high and 2.8% higher than in 2023
This was explained this Thursday by the director general of Economy and Statistics, Catalina Barceló, and the director general of Business, the Self-Employed and Trade, José Antonio Caldés, at the presentation of the updated data from the Balearic Islands Trade Observatory. For the first time, data has been collected on labour density in commerce by municipality in 2023. Thus, those with the highest volume of trade affiliates in relation to their total were Inca, Manacor, Ciutadella, Maó, Ferrerías and Formentera. On the other hand, Estellencs and Banyalbufar had the least commercial weight.
Overall, retail trade sales in May developed downwards (-3.3%), and if viewed since January, the change represents a decline of 0.8%. Although it is true that the evolution is negative in 2024, the level reached in May is the second highest in the available series, only behind that of 2023. Specifically, the variations with respect to May 2022 and 2019 are, respectively, 6.9% and 11%.
Tourism expenditure in the first three months of the year was €173.3 million, 14% of the total and 32% more than in the same period of 2023. “Therefore, the reduction in sales in the retail trade is due to a cooling of consumption by residents. This situation is explained in an environment where sales levels are one of the highest, residents’ savings are limited, interest rates are not falling as quickly as expected and the price level is gaining momentum in recent months, approaching 4%,” explained Barceló.
E-commerce
The Trade Observatory also contains a monograph on e-commerce in SMEs in this sector. From the data, it is concluded that 37% of retail companies with 10 or more employees in 2022 made sales via e-commerce. Of the total, 13% have an online turnover representing between 10% and 25% of turnover, and 10% of companies have a turnover between 1% and 5%. With regard to their evolution since 2019, companies in the Balearic Islands that sell via e-commerce have grown by 14.1%, compared to 8.7% on a national scale.
In this regard, the director general of Enterprise, Self-Employed and Trade, José Antonio Caldés added: “The online commercial activity of trade companies with more than 10 workers have made sales that have reached 550 million euros. This shows that the commerce sector is committed to innovation and digitalisation. In other words, it is adapting to today’s reality. These 550 million represent 9.8% of total turnover for companies, a figure that is almost three times the 3.4% of 2019.