What does the US Retail Inventories by Industry table measure?

It measures the total dollar value of merchandise inventories held by retailers and the inventory-to-sales ratio across major retail sectors in the United States.

How often is the US retail inventory data released and what is the historical coverage?

The data is published monthly by the Census Bureau from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, with historical series beginning in 1992 for the United States.

Which industry groups are included in the retail inventories table?

The table covers total retail, motor vehicle and parts dealers, furniture and electronics, building materials, food and beverage, clothing, general merchandise, and department stores in the United States.

How should the inventory-to-sales ratio be interpreted?

The inventory-to-sales ratio indicates how many months current retail stocks would last at the prevailing sales pace in the United States. Higher ratios can signal weak sales and potential cuts in future manufacturing orders.

US Retail Inventories by Industry

Name: US Retail Inventories by Industry
Creator: Census Bureau (Monthly Retail Trade Survey)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

US retail inventories and inventory-to-sales ratios by industry, published monthly by the Census Bureau.

Latest reading

Total retail stood at 838,983 USD million in Jul 2026. That is +0.8% from Jun 2026 and +3.8% from a year earlier. The series on this page is monthly and runs from Jan 1992 to Jul 2026. Source: Census Bureau (Monthly Retail Trade Survey).

Latest: 838,983 USD million; Jul 2026
vs previous period: +0.8%; Jun 2026
vs a year earlier: +3.8%

About this data

US retail inventories and inventory-to-sales ratios by industry, published monthly by the Census Bureau. The series measure stock levels and coverage ratios across major retail sectors since 1992. Seasonally adjusted figures help analysts evaluate inventory imbalances and retail demand trends in the United States.

Frequently asked questions

What does the US Retail Inventories by Industry table measure?: It measures the total dollar value of merchandise inventories held by retailers and the inventory-to-sales ratio across major retail sectors in the United States.
How often is the US retail inventory data released and what is the historical coverage?: The data is published monthly by the Census Bureau from the Monthly Retail Trade Survey, with historical series beginning in 1992 for the United States.
Which industry groups are included in the retail inventories table?: The table covers total retail, motor vehicle and parts dealers, furniture and electronics, building materials, food and beverage, clothing, general merchandise, and department stores in the United States.
How should the inventory-to-sales ratio be interpreted?: The inventory-to-sales ratio indicates how many months current retail stocks would last at the prevailing sales pace in the United States. Higher ratios can signal weak sales and potential cuts in future manufacturing orders.

Indicator	07-2026	06-2026	05-2026	04-2026	03-2026	02-2026	01-2026	12-2025	11-2025	10-2025	09-2025	08-2025	07-2025	06-2025	05-2025	04-2025	03-2025	02-2025	01-2025	12-2024	11-2024	10-2024	09-2024	08-2024	07-2024	06-2024	05-2024	04-2024	03-2024	02-2024	01-2024	12-2023	11-2023	10-2023	09-2023	08-2023	07-2023
INVENTORIES9
Total retail	838,983	832,489	834,052	827,634	821,654	815,418	815,340	813,286	812,779	816,106	812,285	808,568	808,517	806,762	805,184	803,306	805,571	807,065	807,516	805,639	809,726	808,813	807,342	801,673	796,555	789,170	781,647	776,049	769,013	768,561	763,660	761,624	753,307	755,739	754,997	750,678	744,348
Retail, excluding motor vehicle dealers	568,125	563,650	566,559	562,650	558,937	555,781	556,413	554,688	552,588	552,822	551,534	551,215	551,392	550,654	551,294	550,741	549,709	547,887	547,819	543,614	544,062	541,167	539,460	538,851	534,913	529,711	527,509	526,668	524,476	526,606	524,464	525,288	521,673	529,053	532,954	532,766	531,150
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	270,858	268,839	267,493	264,984	262,717	259,637	258,927	258,598	260,191	263,284	260,751	257,353	257,125	256,108	253,890	252,565	255,862	259,178	259,697	262,025	265,664	267,646	267,882	262,822	261,642	259,459	254,138	249,381	244,537	241,955	239,196	236,336	231,634	226,686	222,043	217,912	213,198
Furniture, home furnishings and electronics	31,080	30,971	30,811	30,788	30,782	30,390	30,355	30,163	30,039	29,874	29,790	29,790	29,918	29,765	29,731	29,364	29,171	29,131	29,124	28,798	28,946	28,928	29,064	28,984	29,075	29,304	29,448	29,707	29,647	29,905	29,865	29,415	29,954	30,481	30,735	30,884	30,978
Building materials and garden equipment	90,804	90,196	89,120	88,010	87,280	87,310	87,497	86,497	86,505	86,834	85,187	84,475	84,062	83,689	83,491	83,490	82,905	82,993	82,807	82,261	81,355	80,243	79,975	79,560	79,191	78,457	78,229	77,713	77,740	77,599	77,556	77,859	78,524	79,515	80,081	80,462	80,222
Food and beverage	65,318	65,062	64,462	64,327	64,484	64,491	63,432	63,891	63,986	63,635	63,697	63,592	63,199	62,728	62,832	62,736	61,877	62,190	62,129	61,985	61,727	61,645	61,365	61,627	60,788	60,295	60,115	59,877	59,927	60,957	60,486	60,327	60,324	60,774	60,887	60,842	60,744
Clothing and accessories	59,471	59,446	59,141	59,056	58,641	58,417	58,458	58,481	58,519	58,479	58,435	58,209	58,161	58,290	58,023	58,343	58,274	58,419	58,447	57,541	58,300	58,760	58,718	58,321	58,030	57,558	57,491	57,108	56,324	57,013	56,812	57,095	57,259	57,376	57,477	57,355	57,195
General merchandise	98,771	98,835	99,023	98,125	97,596	97,207	97,138	96,841	96,763	94,437	95,499	97,469	97,918	97,728	98,271	98,587	99,209	98,380	99,001	98,697	98,014	98,028	98,138	98,415	97,160	96,693	96,152	96,251	95,814	95,983	95,339	95,545	94,350	95,978	96,460	97,425	98,100
Department stores	8,725	8,668	8,706	8,711	8,661	8,630	8,680	8,621	8,641	8,774	8,805	8,772	8,706	8,805	8,747	8,801	8,879	8,980	8,954	9,085	8,892	8,875	8,930	8,942	8,820	8,755	8,809	8,795	8,790	8,824	8,793	8,651	8,768	8,825	8,839	8,819	8,804
INVENTORIES-TO-SALES RATIO9
Total retail	1.27	1.25	1.26	1.26	1.26	1.27	1.28	1.28	1.28	1.29	1.28	1.28	1.29	1.3	1.31	1.29	1.29	1.31	1.31	1.3	1.31	1.32	1.33	1.33	1.31	1.32	1.3	1.3	1.29	1.3	1.3	1.28	1.27	1.27	1.26	1.26	1.26
Retail, excluding motor vehicle dealers	1.09	1.08	1.08	1.09	1.09	1.11	1.12	1.12	1.11	1.12	1.12	1.12	1.13	1.13	1.14	1.14	1.14	1.13	1.15	1.13	1.14	1.13	1.13	1.14	1.13	1.12	1.13	1.13	1.13	1.14	1.14	1.13	1.13	1.14	1.14	1.15	1.16
Motor vehicle and parts dealers	1.91	1.87	1.9	1.9	1.88	1.87	1.88	1.87	1.88	1.92	1.87	1.85	1.85	1.89	1.89	1.79	1.8	1.94	1.89	1.87	1.9	1.97	2.03	1.99	1.97	2.02	1.92	1.93	1.88	1.84	1.85	1.81	1.78	1.74	1.67	1.66	1.63
Furniture, home furnishings and electronics	1.6	1.59	1.58	1.59	1.59	1.6	1.6	1.61	1.59	1.58	1.59	1.58	1.56	1.57	1.57	1.54	1.53	1.53	1.54	1.49	1.54	1.55	1.56	1.55	1.55	1.57	1.58	1.61	1.64	1.61	1.61	1.65	1.63	1.65	1.65	1.65	1.66
Building materials and garden equipment	2.15	2.13	2.12	2.1	2.09	2.11	2.13	2.12	2.15	2.18	2.13	2.1	2.11	2.08	2.1	2.05	2.05	2.09	2.11	2.03	1.97	1.93	1.94	1.95	1.94	1.94	1.95	1.95	1.93	1.93	1.96	1.91	1.95	1.97	1.97	1.97	1.97
Food and beverage	0.77	0.76	0.75	0.75	0.76	0.77	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.74	0.75	0.74	0.73	0.74	0.74	0.74	0.74	0.74	0.74	0.75	0.73	0.73	0.73	0.73	0.73	0.75	0.75	0.74	0.74	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.75
Clothing and accessories	2.11	2.14	2.11	2.13	2.11	2.1	2.16	2.15	2.14	2.14	2.17	2.14	2.16	2.19	2.21	2.23	2.24	2.28	2.25	2.22	2.29	2.3	2.32	2.34	2.3	2.28	2.28	2.29	2.32	2.27	2.29	2.27	2.31	2.32	2.32	2.28	2.31
General merchandise	1.24	1.24	1.25	1.24	1.23	1.25	1.25	1.25	1.25	1.22	1.24	1.27	1.27	1.27	1.29	1.29	1.29	1.28	1.29	1.29	1.29	1.29	1.29	1.31	1.28	1.29	1.28	1.29	1.28	1.29	1.29	1.28	1.28	1.3	1.31	1.31	1.33
Department stores	2.63	2.61	2.62	2.65	2.63	2.75	2.85	2.67	2.57	2.6	2.73	2.71	2.68	2.75	2.71	2.75	2.72	2.71	2.71	2.8	2.72	2.74	2.69	2.76	2.69	2.63	2.66	2.59	2.68	2.61	2.63	2.45	2.59	2.6	2.6	2.55	2.55