Retail sales up 0.4%, based on demand for non-food items

Newsroom 03/02/2014 | 17:34

Retail trade turnover increased by 6.7% in December 2013 compared to the same period last year (gross series), thus making December 2013 the best month for retail in the whole year. The results published by INS surpassed expectations and turned around a shrinking market.

After the first 11 months, the retail market dropped by 0,1%, and now we have a 0.5% increase, writes zf.ro.

INS released data shows how big of an impact December can have on local consumption habits. The increases announced by the institution (+6.7% in brute series and +4.8% adjusted) can be considered surprising, since the great players in the food sector believed December would provide sales similar to the ones from the year before.

December 3012 was a lot weaker compared to December 2011. Retail turnover dropped by 4.3% (brute series0 and 2.3% (adjusted).

The increase was primarily fueled by non-food times, where sales increased by over 11%, according to the INS. Decreases were registered for fuel and auto-retail (-3.3%) as well as food, tobacco and beverage sales which dropped by 0.3%.