Glossary
inventories-to-sales ratio
The inventories-to-sales ratio divides end-of-month inventories by sales for the same month, showing how many months of current selling pace sit in stock. Census MWTS publishes it by NAICS 42 kind of business in dedicated ratio sheets beside the sales and inventories measures.
What is inventories-to-sales ratio?
The cataloged MWTS - Sales & Inventories record sizes its deliverable precisely: three Excel workbooks of roughly 180 KB each holding 'about 430 monthly rows x 22-24 columns per measure sheet (sales, inventories, inventories/sales ratios)', with history from January 1992 and a short_description confirming ratios 'by NAICS 42 kind of business'.
Because the ratio is computed from two published levels, it inherits their revision cycle: rows carry preliminary (p) and revised (r) flags. Coverage spans Total Merchant Wholesalers (NAICS 42), Durable Goods (423), Nondurable Goods (424) and component industries down to selected 5-digit lines such as Computer & Computer Peripheral Equipment (42343), in both seasonally adjusted and not adjusted forms.
Why does inventories-to-sales ratio matter when choosing a dataset?
The ratio is the earliest warning light in distribution economics. A rising reading across NAICS 42 signals stock building ahead of demand or sales slipping under static inventory; a falling one signals lean shelves and stockout risk. For wholesale-dependent REITs the aggregate feeds demand for industrial space.
Use it wrong and it misleads: a ratio built from unadjusted levels spikes every December, while the 22-24-column measure sheets give both bases. Picking the adjusted series for trend reading and the unadjusted one for cash-and-carry planning is the whole game.
How do you evaluate inventories-to-sales ratio in a data source?
- Confirm the publisher computes the ratio for you. MWTS ships a dedicated inventories/sales sheet - no manual joining needed.
- Check the NAICS depth you need. Ratios exist at 42, 423, 424 and industry lines including 4-digit and selected 5-digit codes such as 42343.
- Respect preliminary versus revised flags. Rows are flagged p/r; a ratio pulled mid-cycle can move when the revision lands.
- Match adjustment basis to use case. Both adjusted and unadjusted histories are published back to January 1992 - pick deliberately.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
How is the inventories-to-sales ratio calculated?
End-of-month inventories divided by sales for the same month; MWTS publishes it directly so no manual division is required.
Where can I download it?
From the Census MWTS Excel time series at census.gov/wholesale/xls/mwts/, including timeseries1.xlsx with Sales, Inventories and Inventories-to-Sales Ratios sheets, keyless.
How far back does the wholesale ratio go?
Revised histories run from January 1992 onward, about 430 monthly rows per measure sheet.
Datasets containing this field
Datasets containing inventories-to-sales ratio
6 datasets carry inventories-to-sales ratio in the catalog. Open one, count the fields, judge for yourself.
Data.gov — Banking Datasets Catalog
DBnomics — The World's Economic Database
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