The sales during 2023 in Uruguay They closed a year in positive territory, with a 2% increase compared to the end of 2022, according to data collected by Scanntech radar. However, if we exclude the impact of water purchasesthe result is reversed and registers a drop of 2%.
The water crisis which strongly affected the metropolitan area and the consumption diversion toward Argentina were two factors that significantly impacted the sales from the country. A key fact in this sense is that, although sales grew by 2% and turnover by 8% during the year, the only product category that showed a positive result compared to 2022 was Drinks, which increased by 18%, driven by the increase in the sale of bottled water.
While, Personal care and Cleaning They are the categories that show the most negative values, with drops of 7.1% and 6.9% respectively; while Food fell 1.2% in the year.
Likewise, if this byproduct is taken out of consideration, sales fell 2% in the country — and 1% in December, compared to the same month in 2022.
Along the same lines, if we look at what happened in the different months of the year, including Aguas, there was only Sales drop in January, April, October, November and December —February and September had a variation of 0%—; and it is observed stability once the water crisis is over. On the other hand, if the category is excluded, the only positive month is March, while February remains at 0%.
As for December, the survey recorded a 1% drop in sales and a 3% growth in billing —compared to December 2022—, with a Average ticket of 419 pesos.
How were sales by department?
The behavior of the sales by department The annual balance sheet also allows us to see the impact of the water crisis and the diversion of consumption towards Argentina: Montevideo It was the region that showed the greatest growth during the year, with an increase of 3%; while Leap and Paysandu They were the ones with the worst results, with a drop of 19%.
The other department that recorded an increase in sales was Cannelloni, with 3%. As in the case of the capital, water sales in the midst of the water crisis significantly influenced this result.
For its part, sales in San Jose, Florida and Lavalleja they fell 4%. In Rocha, Thirty-Three and Long Hill, they fell 5%. And in Florida, Peach and Tacuarembó; Rivera and Artigas; and Colonia, Soriano and Black river, the negative variations were 7%.
Source: Ambito
