2020 holiday sales start strong globally

After earlier pandemic-related losses, businesses face greater financial pressure for a strong year-end.
A line chart showing offline retail sales this year in advanced economies. See retail sales in advanced economies image description.
A line chart showing offline retail sales this year in advanced economies, indexed to January-February=100, declining to 84.5 in April, but quickly recovering to the seasonal trend, reaching 116.4 in June (compared to a June average of 116.4 between 2014 and 2019), 121.1 in August (vs.118.9), and 118.8 in October, compared to offline retail sales of 117.9 in October and 154.7 in December on average between 2014 and 2019.
A line chart showing offline retail sales this year in emerging markets. See retail sales in emerging markets image description.
A line chart showing offline retail sales this year in emerging markets, indexed to January-February=100, declining to 68.5 in April compared to an April average of 103.7 between 2014 and 2019, then slowly recovering to 91.8 in June (vs. 105.5 on average), 99.0 in August (vs. 110.0), and, at 102.1 in October, still not back to the seasonal average of 115.6.