They plummet 2.5% in the monthly rate, the biggest decline since April 2020

The turnover of companies fell by 4.7% last April compared to the same month of 2022, thus entering negative after 25 consecutive months of year-on-year increases, according to the Business Turnover Index (ICNE) published this Friday by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

All sectors presented negative year-on-year rates in April, except services, which increased their sales by 7% year-on-year. Among the decreases, the most pronounced was the supply of electricity and water, which cut its sales by 27.9%.

It was followed by industry, which decreased its turnover by 8.1% compared to the same month in 2022, and commerce, which sold 2.2% less compared to April 2022.

Adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, company turnover fell by 2.3% year-on-year last April, a rate 9.1 points lower than that of March.

The greatest decrease in the corrected series was also for the supply of electricity and water, followed by industry and commerce. In contrast, services increased their billing by 7.5%.

MONTHLY SALES DROP 2.5%

In monthly values ​​and within the corrected series, business turnover plummeted by 2.5% in April, being the largest decrease in this monthly rate since April 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, and adding two consecutive months of decreases after the one registered in March (-0.2%).

Only the services sector increased its sales in the fourth month of the year, with an increase of 0.7%. The rest of the sectors cut their billing, especially the supply of electricity and water (-8.3%).

Commerce and industry, for their part, registered a more moderate drop in their sales, of 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.