The trade sector plays a significant role in the economy. It allows countries to expand markets for both goods and services between producers and consumers. It has also emerged as one of the largest segment in and driving force of the economy, contributing a growing share to gross domestic product (GDP). In the Philippines, its trade sector accounts for 15 percent of the country’s GDP, which can be considered as an economic growth driver of the country. Therefore, it is imperative that statistics on trade be collected on a regular basis, and maintained systematically to provide evidence on its potential to assess the performance of the Philippine economy, as well as to attempt to predict the future condition of the economy. Moreover, a large chunk and faster pace of the Philippine trade sector is the retail trade. Of the total establishments in the trade sector, 79.9 percent is accounted for by retail trade, and the remaining by wholesale trade. Current statistics on wholesale and retail trade in measuring trade activities in the country includes sales, gross revenue, and compensation and employment of trading establishments. The trade index, however, is a combined index for the wholesale trade and retail trade. Establishing separate indices for wholesale trade and retail trade is a crucial for policy makers. Providing two indices will facilitate forecasting and benchmarking in the performance of industries distinctly involved in either wholesale trade or retail trade. Hence, this study worked toward generating quarterly a) wholesale trade sales index (WTSI); b) retail trade sales index (RTSI); and c) non-specialized retail trade in stores sales (NS-RTSI) in supermarkets, groceries and department stores, using data in the Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry. This study has likewise paved the way for the institutionalization and implementation of the WTSI and RTSI computation.

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